Hi
I would urge all people who use any portion of North Ave. to attend the May 20th public workshop at St. Marks church at 7:00 pm. In the two meetings I have attended it's my understanding that the Chittenden county regional planning commission has deemed that we have a problem that needs a remedy.
They have divided North Ave. into 5 different sections: with 6 different options for Plattsburg Ave. to Shore Rd., 12 different options for Shore Rd. / Heineberg Rd. to Vt 127 ramps, 6 different options for Vt. 127 ramps to Institute Rd., 6 different options for Institute Rd. to Washington St./ Berry St., 7 different options for Washington St. / Berry St. to North St. We are to choose one option for each section. We could end up with "roundabouts" in 4 of the 5 sections.
I have tried to spread the word to neighbors & friends who live in the new north end. The response almost to a person has been "why?". When I say I was told it's to keep traffic flowing and avoid congestion (good luck trying to get out of some side streets at certain times of the day if roundabouts are put in!). Some people have said "what about Shelburne Rd. or Williston Rd. or where East Ave. feeds into Williston Rd./ Main St. over by the university? If roundabouts are such a good idea, why don't they use them where there is real congestion?"
It was said repeatedly at the two meetings I attended, that this is also being done to improve safety for pedestrians from ages 8 to 80.There are at least 13 streets that I know of in the new north end that do not have side walks. My wife and I have lived on one of them for the past 34 years. There are busy streets with little or no curbing (sections of North Ave., Colchester Ave./ Pearl St. in front of the hospital ).The city can't maintain existing roadways now. Adding new surfaces for bike lanes isn't going to make work for D.P.W. any easier. Last but not least, do we get to vote on this?
It was said that federal money (tax payer) will pay for a majority of it. Who pays the rest? Then who pays to maintain it and how much will that increase our taxes? Shouldn't we fix existing problems before we create possible new ones? I know these projects always look great on paper, but we don't live on paper.
I wonder why other parts of the city have pedestrian activated flashing crossing lights.There are 6 traffic lights from North St. to Plattsburg Ave. (a distance of approx.3 miles). On Pine St. there are 6 pedestrian activated flashing crossing lights between Maple St. and Lakeside Ave. a distance of 8 tenths of 1 mile. If the traffic lights along North ave. were evenly spaced in those 3 miles, there would be 5 tenths of a mile between each light. Are there more people who need to cross Pine st. at all hours of the day and night than people needing to cross North ave. at all hours of the day or night ?
The biggest problem with traffic on North Ave. is with some drivers not obeying traffic laws (speeding, right on red, not using turn signals), or using common sense (cell calling / texting). No amount of road changes will change human nature. It was said that roundabouts will help to slow traffic down. Human nature being what it is, I believe that some drivers will just speed up on the straight away.
So please come to the meeting because whatever changes are done to North Ave. once they are done they won't be undone and we'll be living with it from then on.

Oct 24, 2024, 7 to 8:15 PM

Oct 26, 2024, 5 to 8 PM

Oct 30, 2024, 6:30 to 8 PM