They say a picture paints a thousand words, so here’s what a five-lane road looks like with school children crossing in the middle with the help of a crossing guard. What do you think? Is that what you want Northmoor Road to look like? Would you want your children crossing the street in this picture?
Some would say that it’s no big deal — just put up more traffic lights or speed humps to control the speed of traffic. But as the “Safe Routes to School” website explains (emphasis mine):
When slowing or ‘calming’ traffic, the right design invites the right driver response. The guiding principle of traffic calming is to influence motorist speeds and behavior through good design whenever possible, rather than by traffic control measures such as traffic signals and STOP signs.
Hat tip: Beth Akeson
Why not just go take a picture of University near Loucks?
C.J you are so anti-everything new it’s ridiculous. I swear, if you had your way, we’d all be getting up at 3:00 am to milk cows.
University near Loucks has a stoplight and the street is fairly narrow right there. I usually drive around 35 through that area, especially in the morning when the kiddies are out.
Actually, a better example would be Sterling Middle School (on Sterling). Just replace Newman GC with a neighborhood and add a crosswalk.
Wide streets that are hostile to pedestrians and bicyclists aren’t anything new. The city’s been building them for years. Heck, that’s why the park district wants to build a trail on the old Kellar Branch and why Mike McCoy got hit by a truck while jogging — our streets are designed only for cars, not for other modes of transportation. What’s proposed for Northmoor is old, car-centric thinking. The more progressive cities are building what are called “complete streets.”
So, you see, I’m actually the one proposing something new for Peoria — safe access for all users on our city streets.
I would suggest that the widening of Northmoor, as proposed, is designed specifically to move automobile traffic from one end of town to the other, not to improve access to the schools or residences, and certainly not to enable safe access for all users, including school children and bicyclists.
I travel Northmoor a lot… at different times of the day… and have never really witnessed that much of a logjam on the road that a center turn lane would take care of completely.
Let’s save money and green space… put the center turn lane and the sidewalks in, and call it a day.
So simple… so clean… my oh my, it’s grand to have a slam-dunk now and then, ain’t it?
I really don’t understand the necessity of widening Northmoor. I grew up off of Northmoor and my parents still live a mile from Expo. Even when there’s something major going on at Richwoods or Expo, the traffic never gets completely horrible … and how often does that happen? Not very.
Yeah, maybe a center turn lane would be helpful. I really like C. J.’s “complete streets” idea. Even living a mile away from Richwood, I never biked up there because biking along Northmoor would be suicidal. I’m surprised the Richwoods track & cross country folks haven’t sustained any casualties over the years.
Maybe Northmoor should be ripped up so a hiking and biking trail could be put in? One could then connect to the Kellar Branch!
Not ALL of Northmoor is being widened to 5 lanes anyway. It needs to be widened and should have been done years ago.
This whole issue is liken to the new school the district wants to build at Glen Oak Park. Prospect and Abington/Frye. Everyone says the street is too busy. It is just another horseshit anology of traffic around various schools. Like said before, you have Loucks School, Woodrow Wilson, Sterling, and at the very least Franklin on Columbia Terr. All schools on busy streets so widening the street is a non issue in my opinion because of a school. It is though, un-nessecary to spend money widening Northmoor. There are drainage problems in Rolling Acres, some streets in Peoria that never have had curbs and sidewalks that are far older than Northmoor. Just another example of the city wasting more money simply because it’s there. I wish these bone heads would stop this and get their priorities straight.
It needs to be widened, MDD? Why??? Maybe a center turn lane – although even that could done without, I believe – but five lanes? Why on earth would Northmoor need five lanes?
Regarding the safety issue, I know there were several high profile incidents of students being struck by cars on busy streets down in the St. Louis area in the past year or two. I wouldn’t dismiss that concern. People will go faster if the road is widened, even if they put in crosswalks and stoplights.
If the issue is faster east-west access along the Northmoor corridor, but one of the solutions to traffic concerns in front of the three schools concentrated along Northmoor (Richwoods, Northmoor and St. Vincents) is to put in traffic lights … how does that speed access??? Won’t traffic lights slow things down even more?
I agree with Em … I’m sure there are better projects the taxpayer’s money could be used for.
I agree with the concept of widning Northmor, but CJ is right, let’s make useful to everyone. There are alot of famlies, ie children living in that area, not to mention a middle school just yards away from Sheridan and Northmor. Butchering a street for the sake of “more traffic” is not the concept that will make Peoria a better place to live.
It’s being widenend because the City of Peoria Thoroughfare plan calls for the road to be a Major Arterial. Speeds 35-45, limited intersections and access points, wide lanes, for the purposes of moving traffic THROUGH an area.
Change the plan, change the course of this project.