Mayor joins tour of 12 intersections set for upgrades

Sunday afternoon, Mayor Darwin Hindman joined the committee charged with recommending upgrades to existing pedestrian crossings on a two-hour bicycle tour of four of the 12 intersections that are to be improved with $2.4 million of a $22 million federal grant. The city received the grant as part of a pilot project to encourage more people to walk, bike and wheel rather than drive cars.

The four intersections toured were College Avenue and Rogers Street, Providence Road and Business Loop 70, Garth Avenue and Business Loop 70, and Providence and Stewart roads. At each intersection, the committee members and the mayor watched pedestrians, cyclists and traffic at each of the intersections, walked across the intersections, and discussed improvements they would like to see made.

Hindman said he enjoyed the tour and was glad for the opportunity to brainstorm ideas about how to make the intersections friendlier to pedestrians. But, it remains to be seen how many of their ideas will actually come to be.

“In the long-term it will have to pass technical muster, but I think there were some great ideas that will make the intersections much more pedestrian-friendly. Not only to pedestrians, also for motorists,” Hindman said after the tour.

Trevor Harris, the committee member who planned the tour, said it exceeded his expectations.

“We had a thoughtful group of riders and wheelchair participants who maneuvered through all four intersections,” Harris said. “I collected a lot of good ideas. Everyone present today learned a lot more about this process by being an active part of it.”

Based on the information he gathered from the tour, Harris will write a report for the nonmotorized existing facilities subcommittee, which will review and discuss the report before passing it on to the nonmotorized executive committee and the planning department.

“The content of the report will be focused on what we think are the best ways to approach short- and long-term fixes to these intersections,” Harris said.