Dear Council Members and Staff,
I am writing to share my thoughts on the Middle Ave Complete Streets Final Design contract award you will vote on this evening.
I disagree with the proposed raised crosswalks at Yale Rd and Arbor Rd. My opinion here is based on driving Middle Ave almost every day at both school times and not.
The memorandum dated April 14 by the engineering consultant, Parametrix, says that moving the raised crosswalk from Blake to Yale “preserves the intent of the original design and ensures that traffic calming benefits” but I believe it does not. Yale just doesn’t generate the same foot traffic to justify a raised crosswalk as Blake and it’s bunched too close to the stop sign at University Ave. This feels like a change made merely to preserve the number of raised crosswalks in the original design rather than based on the realities of the Yale Rd crosswalk.
Regarding Arbor Rd, the current crosswalk at south Arbor (Allied Arts side) gets WAY more use than the crosswalk in front of the church at north Arbor. South Arbor is the best place for a raised crosswalk as it will serve more people crossing the street or going to the park, etc. In addition, Middle Ave has no sidewalk on the south side so pedestrians would need to walk in the bike lane from the corner of south Arbor to cross Middle at the proposed raised crosswalk. The proposed location is just wonky from a usage perspective.
Finally, I want to point out that it seems the Pilot Phase of this project did not adequately reflect or simulate the Final Design elements. For example, the Pilot Phase had no temporary speed bumps to simulate how traffic will react to permanent raised crosswalks and speed bumps. I understand that the Pilot can’t reflect all elements but it feels like the information gathered during the Pilot could, and should, better represent the Final Design for best decision making.
Thank you for your Attention,
Peter Cook
Partridge Ave Resident
