Karen Rowell walked into Burlington City Hall at 4 p.m. Thursday, carrying an overflowing blue folder. Inside, she said, were the signatures of 1,650 Burlington residents, requesting that the following question be put on the Town Meeting Day ballot: “Shall the city of Burlington keep four vehicular lanes on North Ave.?”
The residents of Burlington’s New North End are embroiled in a fight over the future of North Avenue, which connects the neighborhood to downtown. For years, the city has contemplated how to improve the accident-plagued road, and in 2014, the city council approved a pilot study that would test several changes during the upcoming spring and summer months. Most contentiously, it would replace a four-lane section of North Avenue with three lanes and add bicycle paths.
Proponents of the project say it will provide useful information that could help the city make North Avenue safer for cars and cyclists alike, and city leaders have promised to ditch the new configuration if it doesn’t work. The task force ushering the project onward unveiled a website this week.
Opponents, led by Rowell, argue that losing a lane will exacerbate traffic problems. Rowell said Thursday that she doubts the pilot project will be conducted objectively, and even if the majority of residents oppose the three-lane arrangement when it’s concluded, she’s skeptical that officials will heed their wishes.
Residents must collect signatures from 5 percent of the city’s registered voters, or approximately 1,400 people, to get a question on the ballot. The ballot item is non-binding, so it wouldn’t force the city’s hand. But Rowell is hoping the city will reconsider doing the pilot project, if a strong majority in the New North End expresses support for the status quo on Town Meeting Day.
Thursday was the deadline for submitting an item, and the city has yet to verify the signatures Rowell collected.
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It would be great for residents like Rowell to offer proactive solutions to the frequent accidents and daily threat of serious physical injury instead of opposing mere pilots established by data-driven solutions.
North Ave. as it stands today is a model for Frogger, not safety.
I wonder, if the vote goes in favor of the pilot project will she abide by that? Or continue to fight?
Tiki, are there really frequent accidents on North Ave? I’ve lived out there since 1990, drive the avenue pretty much daily, although not usually during rush hour. I hardly ever see any collisions, and when I do see them I don’t see any difference in frequency or severity between those in the 4-lane area and those outside the 4-lane area. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw a collision on North Ave. VTrans data says 219 “crashes” in the 4-year period of 2003-2007 in the 4 highest crash locations on North Ave. That would be about 1/week, but I certainly don’t see 1/week. In an overlapping 4 year period, VTrans notes that 6 collisions involved pedestrians or bicycles. I wish VTrans would further define the severity of crashes… are we talking CRASHES or are we talking fender benders and minor bumps? I only ask because I have always expected to see more collisions on North Ave than I do.
The perception that North Ave is an unsafe street, I will grant you that perception certainly exists. If our leaders solved the issue of 2-lanes-into-1 at Shore Rd and installed some of those flashing yellow lights for pedestrians like Pine St has I think it would go a long way towards helping residents feel that North Ave is safer.
joeconn4:
There have been over 300 crashes on North Ave in the last 5 years (19 of them have been pedestrian or bike crashes), more than any other Minor Arterial in the city. The road reconfiguration would decrease sideswipe and rear end collisions by reducing the number of potential conflict points. It will make the road much safer. People regularly speed more than 10 mph over the speed limit.
Oh hey, all the naysayers were wrong and the proponents were right; rconfiguring North Ave made it safer! 😀
“Crashes city-wide during the intervention period were equal to the control period
average but down considerably in both North Ave segments (-26% and -27%).
Injuries city-wide during the intervention period were down slightly (-2%) but were
down considerably in both North Avenue segments (-49% and -73%) indicating that
crashes during the intervention”
https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default…