Commission Recommends Clark Ave. To a One Way; Hears Speeding Concerns

Clark Avenue could soon be a one-way street, pending approval of a Traffic and Parking Commission vote by the City Council.

At last week’s traffic commission meeting, members approved converting Clark Avenue into a one-way street westbound from Webster Avenue to Eleanor Street.

“After looking at the traffic flow in the area, as well as the rush hour traffic conditions, (engineering consultants) found that this portion of Clark Avenue could be converted to a one-way flow westbound without any significant impact to the surrounding roadway network,” said Alexander Train, Director of Housing and Community Development. “It’s main impact would be to the homes of the folks who were actually requesting this change, since they would have to circulate around to access their driveways and homes.”

In other business, the traffic commission tabled discussions about speeding and traffic issues in several hotspots in the city to look at potential solutions to the problems.

District 4 Councillor Enio Lopez is requesting the city install speed tables at 73 and 150 Marlborough Street to slow traffic in that area.

“It’s really an area where the cars are always speeding,” said Lopez. “I always hear complaints about that, and I want to see if (the commission) can support this request.”

Lopez said there have been several accidents in the area recently.

Train said the city’s transportation and engineering consultant is performing a traffic pedestrian safety assessment of Marlborough Street in order to develop safety recommendations.

“We expect that some of their recommendations may include the installation of speed tables, speed bumps, or other roadway features that we would have to coordinate with the fire department and other pertinent departments,” said Train.

The traffic commission tabled Lopez’s request to its next meeting, when it is expected that the consultant will have some recommendations.

The commission will also be looking into speeding and traffic concerns at the intersection of Jefferson and Washington avenues that were raised by resident Mary Festa.

Festa said there is a soft corner at the intersection, and that many motorists speed up to take the turn after going over the speed tables on Washington Avenue.

“They go over that speed table and they gun it and go whizzing up Washington then they take the right onto Jefferson and they are not even considering that there might be people walking across the street,” said Festa. “Now making that a hard corner would shorten the crosswalk that runs across Jefferson, which I think would be safer for pedestrians.”

Train said the city would look into conducting an assessment of the intersection and return with some recommendations for the traffic commission at an upcoming meeting.

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