Tuesday, May 17, 2016
A direct count of the number of homes and apartments in the Old North End that will be affected by Safety-Sizing five arterial streets revealed that 597 families will benefit from the One Lane From Two Lanes downsizing.
The five arterial streets involved are Cascade, Nevada, Weber, Wahsatch, and Fontanero.
That means just short of 600 families will have less traffic noise from the street in front of their home and will be safer when using pedestrian crossings.
The count was taken only within the boundaries of the Old North End. A number of other families will reap the rewards of One Lane From Two Lanes because the safety-sizing will affect portions of streets outside the Old North End.
The street that will benefit the most is North Nevada Avenue, the most thickly populated street in the Old North End. A total of 212 homes and apartments are located on Nevada between Uintah Street to the south and Lilac Street, near the bridge over the old Rock Island railroad, to the north.
The number of families living on the other streets in the Old North End were:
How do figure this is going to be better for me on Nevada? So now I not only get buses but I will be able to enjoy bumper to bumper traffic in one lane…this irresponsible action by people who do not give a damn how it affects those of us that have to endure this fiasco.
David,
I’m sorry you feel that way. I am helping to work both the bus fiasco and safety plan.
I agree 100% about the buses and their negative impact on Nevada. We hope to get a meeting with MMT to discuss what can be done. Feel free to send your specific comments to bus@oldnorthend.org so we have a record. Also feel free to call MMT directly at 385-RIDE.
Concerning the safety plan, if it does what you fear, then the plan is to revert all of the streets in ONEN to the current configuration. The changes will only involve paint so it will be easy to reverse. However, I am hopeful (and so is city engineering) that it will transform Nevada into a much better street. We found this brochure from AARP. They took the time to research and document this. This supports everything I’ve read about road dieting.
http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/livable-communities/documents-2014/Livability%20Fact%20Sheets/Road-Diets-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Since you live on Nevada, you may be interested in this fact pulled from this document…
Orlando, Florida: Edgewater Drive
A 1.5-mile section of Edgewater Drive was put on a road
diet in 2000, converting four lanes to two.
The results: 34 percent fewer crashes and 68 percent
fewer injuries. Speeds decreased by up to 10 percent.
Property values increased 8 to 10 percent in residential
areas and 1 to 2 percent for commercial areas. Travel times
through the corridor sped up by 25 seconds even with an
increase in traffic volume. There was a nearly 40 percent
increase of on-street parking, and walking and bicycling
rates rose by 56 and 48 percent, respectively.
I know it is counter-intuitive, but I urge you to look into it further. I was skeptical at first but after attending the public meetings, talking with city engineers, and researching online, I am very hopeful that this can be a very good thing.