Jennifer Davis reports in the Journal Star today that plans are moving forward to “widen and improve” Northmoor Road:

The proposal would be to make Northmoor Road three lanes from Allen Road to Rosemead Drive, which is basically across from the Exposition Gardens entrance. Northmoor would then become five lanes from there until Sheridan Road, and then go back to three lanes from Sheridan to Knoxville Avenue.

I agree that Northmoor needs to be improved — meaning they need better drainage, curbs, sidewalks, etc. But what is the justification for widening it?

There are two nearby east-west routes that have higher traffic capacity — Pioneer Parkway to the north and Glen Avenue to the south. Those east-west streets have a high volume of commercial businesses, which justifies the higher-capacity, five-lane roadways.

Northmoor, on the other hand, provides more than adequate access to the schools (Northmoor-Edison, Richwoods High) and residential areas that lie along its path. The justification for widening Northmoor is clearly not to provide better access to anything along that corridor, but to provide an easier throughway for those wanting to travel from the east side of town to the west side.

In other words, they want to make it a cut-through — a shortcut through a primarily residential area with two schools and lots of little kids. That’s not a good enough reason. To encourage more people to use Northmoor as a cut-through by accommodating faster traffic flow is unwarranted. They wouldn’t let motorists use Prospect Road between Knoxville and Lake that way, so why should they let motorists use Northmoor that way?

The road is already a through street and has a 30 mph speed limit. If anyone wants to use it instead of the larger, faster east-west routes, they have that choice. The city should improve the street, but keep it at its present width for the safety of the residents and school children.