Washington Avenue Road Widening

On March 21st residents of Washington Avenue were invited to a public hearing where they learned of plans to widen Washington Avenue from Highland Ave to Joyce Avenue; affecting 25 properties. As residents, we were a bit surprised that Washington Avenue was flagged as needing repair, but we assumed this would just be a simple repaving and some sidewalk repair. The city members argued that more was needed and that widening the road would be beneficial for traffic flow. As property owners on Washington Avenue, this is concerning given we do not feel there is a problem with traffic flow.

As residents and property owners, our desire is not to increase traffic flow and speed, but instead we would like to reduce traffic and speed. It is obvious for anyone that observes driving behavior on Washington Avenue, that a majority of traffic is by Newport and Southgate residents, who now leverage Washington Avenue as a cut through to avoid traffic and stop lights on Highway 27. If one considers there are only 25 homes on Washington Avenue, they would agree that traffic is heavy, especially at rush hour. We, as residents are not responsible for this level of traffic.

Another concern the residents of Washington Avenue has is that drivers often neglect to yield for stop signs (especially when there aren’t many cars parked on the road). Luckily, the current width of the road helps alleviate this behavior because if oncoming traffic is coming, drivers are forced to stop at stop signs to let traffic through. If the road is widened, this will no longer be necessary, increasing the opportunities for drivers to ignore the traffic signs.