Traffic Calming Improvements on Hamilton St.
From "Hamilton Street Traffic Calming Measures"
Go to the project
As a resident of the 4000 block of Hamilton St. who will be directly affected by these proposed traffic calming measures and as an Architect and Urban Designer, I offer the following:
The addition of sidewalks to 41st Ave. is long overdue and most welcome.
The inclusion of crosswalks and a stop sign at the corner of 42nd Ave. and Hamilton St. would be helpful. Many children walk to school along this route and must cross where drivers turn onto Hamilton without slowing down.
Permanent curb extensions with planting areas - like those Sean referenced in an earlier comment - are far more aesthetically appealing than the plastic posts proposed here. Permanent curb extensions may block bike lanes, but there is already a permanent (and well-landscaped) curb extension on this stretch of Hamilton St. where it meets the five-point intersection. It would be nice to have continuity of features along this street. Most bikers on Hamilton St. use the full roadbed because the bike lane lacks striping (and because traffic on these blocks is minimal and one-way, so it is generally safe to do so). I doubt that permanent curb extensions would be an inconvenience to bikers, and the opportunity to beautify the street would be worth the additional cost.
I oppose the proposed addition of speed humps along Hamilton St. This is a major route for emergency vehicles between the Municipal Building and the state-owned portion of Hamilton St. The addition of three speed humps would slow response times. The Urban Planning profession is increasingly advising against the installation of speed bumps as a street calming measure for many reasons: expense of installation and maintenance, aforementioned impact on emergency services, tendency to merely divert traffic to streets without them, etc. I don't observe excessive speed to be a particular problem on my block - especially now that there is parking on both sides of the street. A modest "road diet" trading sidewalk width for roadbed would be nice, but expensive and not especially necessary. I would rather see striping of a bike lane to at least imply a narrower automobile-only lane and encourage reasonable speeds.
