Rutland Herald
Albert J. Marro / Staff Photo
The city’s Board of Highway Commissioners voted
2-1 Friday to change Woodstock Avenue back to a four-lane configuration,
eliminating the bicycle lanes. Voting yes were Alderman David Allaire,
left, and Public Works Commissioner Jeffrey Wennberg. Mayor Christopher
Louras, not pictured, was the dissenting vote.
Rutland’s road diet on Woodstock Avenue will soon come to an end.
A split vote among the three members of the city’s Board of Highway Commissioners will restore the heavily traveled east-west road to four lanes after a five-week experiment that sought to improve safety by limiting traffic to two lanes with a middle turn lane to ease congestion.
Traffic data collected after the two-lane configuration was installed showed a one-third drop in vehicular collisions from the same time period last year. But the majority of highway commissioners worried there was too much potential for bicyclists or pedestrians to be struck by cars, given the way the bike lanes have been used during the last month.
“What I’ve seen of the use of those lanes is somewhat disconcerting,” said Public Works Commissioner Jeffrey Wennberg, a highway board member.
“If it was only bicyclists using the lane and they were all traveling in the right direction I would have a different opinion,” he said. “But that’s not what I’ve seen. The majority using it are going in the wrong direction and there are people with no business whatsoever in that lane whether it’s skateboarders, people with baby strollers or whatever.”
“We have introduced a new potential hazard that we have no experience with that is separated from those people using the (bike) lanes by only a stripe of white paint,” Wennberg added.
“The quickest way to mitigate that hazard is to switch back to four lanes.”
He and Board of Aldermen President David Allaire cast the deciding votes to end the so-called road diet.
Allaire said before casting his vote that he had many of the same safety concerns.
“The bike lanes are too narrow and close to cars and they’re being used by joggers and people pushing carriages,” he said, adding that the middle turn lane for vehicles was also being improperly used by some motorists who used it either as a passing lane or a travel lane.
The lone dissenting vote was cast by Mayor Christopher Louras, the third board member, who said the reduction in motor vehicle collisions showed that the traffic engineers who recommended the road diet were right.
“I think the analysis of the last five weeks is that it is safer,” Louras said. “There may be issues of use and abuse of the bike lanes, but over time I think that will change. People will ultimately adjust to the changes and it will be safer.”
The lane reconfigurations on Woodstock Avenue have drawn starkly divergent opinions from business owners and residents during the last month.
“It’s hard to figure out who’s right when you have two businesses next to each other with one owner saying it’s the best thing since sliced bread and the other saying the apocalypse is upon us,” Louras said.
While Allaire cited a petition signed by more than 570 city residents who wanted traffic returned to four lanes of travel, the mayor said he believed there was an equal or greater number of residents who favored the new alignment.
While Allaire and Wennberg voted to return to the prior alignment, both said they appreciated some elements of the road diet after seeing it in action.
“When I first heard about this concept my first reaction was ‘What are they thinking? That will never work,’” Wennberg said. “But much to my amazement it worked very well and has improved vehicle safety.”
The public works commissioner said after the meeting that the road would be re-striped to four travel lanes during repaving of the roadway which could begin by the end of the coming week.
brent.curtis
@rutlandherald.com
A split vote among the three members of the city’s Board of Highway Commissioners will restore the heavily traveled east-west road to four lanes after a five-week experiment that sought to improve safety by limiting traffic to two lanes with a middle turn lane to ease congestion.
Traffic data collected after the two-lane configuration was installed showed a one-third drop in vehicular collisions from the same time period last year. But the majority of highway commissioners worried there was too much potential for bicyclists or pedestrians to be struck by cars, given the way the bike lanes have been used during the last month.
“What I’ve seen of the use of those lanes is somewhat disconcerting,” said Public Works Commissioner Jeffrey Wennberg, a highway board member.
“If it was only bicyclists using the lane and they were all traveling in the right direction I would have a different opinion,” he said. “But that’s not what I’ve seen. The majority using it are going in the wrong direction and there are people with no business whatsoever in that lane whether it’s skateboarders, people with baby strollers or whatever.”
“We have introduced a new potential hazard that we have no experience with that is separated from those people using the (bike) lanes by only a stripe of white paint,” Wennberg added.
“The quickest way to mitigate that hazard is to switch back to four lanes.”
He and Board of Aldermen President David Allaire cast the deciding votes to end the so-called road diet.
Allaire said before casting his vote that he had many of the same safety concerns.
“The bike lanes are too narrow and close to cars and they’re being used by joggers and people pushing carriages,” he said, adding that the middle turn lane for vehicles was also being improperly used by some motorists who used it either as a passing lane or a travel lane.
The lone dissenting vote was cast by Mayor Christopher Louras, the third board member, who said the reduction in motor vehicle collisions showed that the traffic engineers who recommended the road diet were right.
“I think the analysis of the last five weeks is that it is safer,” Louras said. “There may be issues of use and abuse of the bike lanes, but over time I think that will change. People will ultimately adjust to the changes and it will be safer.”
The lane reconfigurations on Woodstock Avenue have drawn starkly divergent opinions from business owners and residents during the last month.
“It’s hard to figure out who’s right when you have two businesses next to each other with one owner saying it’s the best thing since sliced bread and the other saying the apocalypse is upon us,” Louras said.
While Allaire cited a petition signed by more than 570 city residents who wanted traffic returned to four lanes of travel, the mayor said he believed there was an equal or greater number of residents who favored the new alignment.
While Allaire and Wennberg voted to return to the prior alignment, both said they appreciated some elements of the road diet after seeing it in action.
“When I first heard about this concept my first reaction was ‘What are they thinking? That will never work,’” Wennberg said. “But much to my amazement it worked very well and has improved vehicle safety.”
The public works commissioner said after the meeting that the road would be re-striped to four travel lanes during repaving of the roadway which could begin by the end of the coming week.
brent.curtis
@rutlandherald.com
No comments:
Post a Comment