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43rd Avenue Traffic Calming Project

Traffic calming strategies are being considered for 43rd Avenue between Jefferson and Oglethorpe Streets.

View the proposed plan

Phases

Phases overview

Phase 1: Community Meeting

Community Meeting

Phase 2: Community Feedback

Community Feedback

Phase 3: Review of Feedback

Review of Feedback

Community Feedback

June 25, 2025 4:00 AM - July 12, 2025 4:00 AM

Give us your feedback!

Review the proposed traffic calming measures

These measures include:

Neck Down: Creates an extension of the sidewalk or curb into the parking lane to reduce the available street width and slow traffic. The proposal plans to install these temporarily with plastic bollards as a proof of concept, with future plans to make them permanent with landscaping.
High-Visibility Crosswalks: High-visibility crosswalks indicate desired locations for pedestrian crossings and indicate where motorists should yield to pedestrians crossing the street.
Speed Hump: One speed hump centrally located on 43rd Avenue between Madison and Nicholson Streets

Use the "Submit Comment" button in the upper right-hand corner to provide feedback on these traffic-calming measures by July 11, 2025.

You can comment on or endorse the suggestions of others by reviewing the comment cards below.

Please note that you will need to provide and confirm your email address in order to provide comment. This is a security feature to prevent spam comments. No other demographic information is collected if you do not wish to provide it. You may still comment anonymously.

2025-06-17 43rd Avenue FINAL Meeting Handout.pdf

(16.2 MB)

27 issues

User 4072321 year ago Thanks for putting together the proposed traffic calming plan and for staying engaged with the community. I’ve gone through the proposal and wanted to share a few thoughts, questions, and suggestions:Crosswalk at 43rd Ave & Madison StA crosswalk here sounds great in theory, but there’s a practical issue: if it lines up with the current curb ramp, it would land right in front of a power pole on the DeMatha side. That makes it tough to add a matching curb ramp and could be a real obstacle. The storm drains on 43rd near the corner with Madison could also complicate placing a crosswalk across 43rd here.Suggestion: Perhaps the crosswalk could be placed at the corner of 43rd and Nicholson.Speeding Between Oglethorpe and 5804 43rd AveThat stretch of road is pretty long, and cars tend to pick up speed there. Even with the proposed neck-down, it might not be enough—especially since this section includes the DeMatha driveway and Nicholson Street.Suggestion: Add another speed bump between the DeMatha driveway and Nicholson, or if the crosswalk moves to a corner of Nicholson it could be a raised crosswalk. One-Way on Madison StreetJust curious—what’s the reasoning behind making Madison one-way eastbound? I am concerned this will only cause issues for residents and drive additional traffic to Nicholson.Speeding Southbound on 43rd from MadisonThe downhill slope here really encourages speeding. The neck-down south of Macaroy Alley is a good start, but it might not be enough on its own.Suggestion: Move the proposed speed bump (currently south of Longfellow) up to between Macaroy Alley and Longfellow. Then, where the speed bump was originally planned, consider adding another neck-down to help slow cars as they approach the stop sign at Kennedy.

a person1 year ago

Jessica Weiss1 year ago Our family is grateful for any and all speed calming measures on 43rd Ave. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned. To that end, I agree with previous poster(s) that more is needed specifically at the intersection of Kennedy/43rd, a 3-way stop sign intersection, with 2 stop signs currently intended to stop traffic ON 43rd Ave. I live at this intersection and have spent hours observing traffic here and I'm genuinely surprised the plan does not include a single change for this intersection. As noted, very few people actually stop at the stop signs on 43rd Ave. and many actually speed through them. A few specific additions to the plan might include: Stop signs that are more visible, such as by being closer to the street and/or having lights or other design changes. I do believe some people see the stop signs and just don't stop, but I think others honestly do not notice the stop signs because they're hard to see and even hidden (including behind our oak tree). High visibility crosswalks are 100% needed here as well. MANY people cross 43rd Ave. here on their way to/from HES and the shopping areas on Balt. Ave. Thank you again! Jessica

Michael Hillstrom1 year ago I appreciate the efforts to slow down the people driving cars on this street. I think the speed bumps and neck downs will help, especially in the areas of the road without parking that allow drivers to speed unimpeded. My two concerns are the location of the neck down in front of the Garfield Court apartments and the one way change of Madison. The location of the neck down in front of Garfield Court apartments is a frequent spot of deliveries, drop offs and pick ups, and I think it is important to keep this space available in front of the only affordable housing on this street. The space is currently no parking, but I think it should be changed to something along the lines of a loading zone to reflect the reality of its use. It will have a calming effect similar to other existing parking elsewhere on this road, and the neck down could be moved up slightly between Macaroy Alley and Madison to have the same intended effect. For the one way change on Madison, I don't see the purpose or positive reasoning on this. I rarely encounter any drivers coming down the hill at that intersection and I think converting it to one way actually encourages speeding similar to one way roads like Oglethorpe. I am guessing the residents on Madison also would prefer not to loop around to leave their house, and the residents on Nicholson wouldn't want their street to have increased usage, since they are already utilized for drivers avoiding the one way of Oglethorpe.

User 4571041 year ago My wife and I live at 4300 Kennedy St., where there is a three-way stop sign intersection with 43rd. Here are our main concerns: Practically NO ONE stops at the stop signs, and MANY people don’t even slow down. We strongly approve of the high-visibility crosswalks, but would love to see stronger measures taken to force drivers to at least slow down at this intersection. I suggest speed bumps placed directly at the stop signs. Your current proposed location for a speed bump is right next to our house, which is at a low point in the road, near two storm drains at the foot of Longfellow. We know from experience that this area floods frequently during heavy rains. We are concerned that the speed bump would make flooding worse. We suggest moving it up the road closer to the stop signs; this would impact the flooding less as well as force traffic to slow down closer to the stop signs. We strongly disapprove of the neck downs. They seriously impede traffic flow, which would be a problem during events at DeMatha High School. They also cause greater damage to cars if they are accidentally hit; I think speed bumps are likely to cause less damage while still getting the point across. Also, we get a fair number of emergency vehicles on 43rd Ave., and we are concerned that the neck downs would impede their ability to pass through quickly. In general, however, please note that we are VERY happy that you are working on a plan to calm down the traffic on 43rd.

User 3392961 year ago

Kris Blessing1 year ago

Teresa Ferrara1 year ago Firstly, thank you all for the hard work that went into creating this plan in response to our safety concerns! Speed Humps: THANK YOU! I appreciate there being at least TWO speed humps along this long stretch as noted. However, for the one you want to place between Madision and Nicholson, ***please ensure there is at least a full car's distance between the speed hump and the driveway of 5804. Otherwise, coming in and out of the driveway will become a nightmare.*** Placing it a full car's length North of 5804 would be perfect, because sometimes cars park too close to the driveway, making it both difficult and dangerous to back out because we can't see oncoming traffic.High-visibility crosswalks: Love this idea and hope that they come with signage as well (like "yield to pedestrians"). The crosswalks will encourage more pedestrians to cross in those locations, so ***I think it also should come with an additional warning to the vehicles to watch out for them***, particularly the crosswalk at the corner of 43rd and Madison. There is no stop sign there, but visibility for drivers coming in either direction is limited (in terms of seeing oncoming traffic) due to the incline of the road.It's also worth noting that there is a school bus stop right around 43rd & Nicholson (that picks up on the DeMatha side), so a lot of students cross 43rd Avenue at that corner. A high-visibility crosswalk + signage there may be helpful there as well and encourage drivers to slow.Curb extensions: (I love the one on Oglethorpe and think it's been very effective!) I'm not clear on where on this proposed plan additional curb extensions might be placed, but it's worth noting that the car that parks outside of 5810 43rd Ave (right past Nicholson Street) has been hit by other oncoming vehicles multiple times. A curb extension right at that corner would likely help remedy this issue.Neck downs: The general consensus is against these. I think the neck down past MacAroy Alley may be helpful, but as other folks have stated, cars are almost always double-parked there already (right outside the apartment complex), so it acts as natural traffic calming.That said, ***I'm particularly opposed to the neck down before the stop sign at Oglethorpe.*** Having the full neckdown here will create a lot of backup and possibly accidents. The intersection of 43rd & Oglethorpe is already tight, people make wide turns off of Oglethorpe, and other cars already fail to get far enough over to one side for oncoming traffic to easily pass. All of that is natural traffic calming. If you force oncoming traffic into the middle of 43rd very close to the stop sign, it increases the likelihood that the cars will collide. This is also a high-traffic area when students are going to school, and I envision this neck down not only acting to calm traffic but greatly increase it by creating a build up of cars right at that intersection (which means they'll be more likely to want to speed further down 43rd, to makeup for how long they had to wait at that intersection, since only one car can go at a time and then immediately has to stop). I fear this being a major problem.Madison Street converted to a one-way (away from 43rd): I believe this should be left up to the residents of this street. From what I've seen and heard, they vehemently oppose making Madison one-way, and I support them in their preference, particularly since Longfellow and the Alley are both already one-ways. I don't really see the benefit of also making Madison a one-way, and I actually think it will force more traffic down Nicholson, which is also a cut-through for parents and students already.Thank you for your work and your careful consideration of the community's feedback!

User 4231241 year ago

User 5517801 year ago

Daniel Broder1 year ago

User 4239481 year ago Traffic is already slowed by the parked cars. I don't see the need for neck downs. I live on 43rd Ave. and often travel in the direction of Jefferson and back, and already have to go slow and take turns negotiating around parked cars with the on-coming cars. A combination of parked cars and neck downs seems like overkill. And what if a delivery van or other large vehicle is parked on one side of a neck down partially blocking it? That may mean waiting for the driver to come back before I can move. I understand the need for traffic calming devices, but let's not make it a nightmare for residents.

User 3211261 year ago

User 2163841 year ago

Austin Fraser1 year ago Most of the recommendations look great. People tend to grumble about anything and everything that changes, but I like the neckdowns and have seen them work well in Takoma Park and Annapolis. The one way on Madison is interesting. I’m not sure how much Madison impacts the traffic on 43rd given it’s a low volume street and seems as though it forces everyone living on Madison to use Nicholson or Oglethorpe regardless of their route. Everything else looks great, would love a long term implementation of planter beds for storm water control in the neckdowns, bump outs, etc.

User 6061441 year ago As a resident of Madison Street since 1989, I have had the opportunity to see a lot of history of how 43rd Avenue is used. As a civil engineering and planning professional, I would offer the following commentary on the plan:First: At the intersection of Jefferson and 43rd Avenue, provide a short (~20') length of striping along the centerline of 43rd Avenue to provide westbound cars with a visual cue with which to align themselves when stopping to turn onto Jefferson Street. Currently, a problem is that cars drive closer to the center of the road, and then obstruct cars from being able to turn from Jefferson Street onto 43rd Avenue.Second: The street's comparatively narrow width limits the effectiveness of neckdowns. I would suggest instead considering whether allowing more on-street parking would be a more functional and effective traffic calming device. The proposed neckdown at "Location 2," just south of Oglethorpe Street, actually already exists in the form of cars which are allowed to park on the west side of 43rd Avenue. This has the effect of making cars (1) slow down and (2) stop to move out of the way to let opposing traffic pass. Adding a neckdown would only consume on-street parking, which is needed in the area because of the number of houses without off-street parking.Third: The neckdown in front of Garfield Park already exists in the form of the constant amount of delivery vehicles and passenger vehicles standing while waiting to pickup or drop off packages or residents. While I find this activity annoying to navigate, I also recognize that this is probably the most effective speed control device along the study area.Fourth: From my perspective, the biggest issue with speed and safety along 43rd Avenue is the exposure to pedestrians along the segments from Jefferson Street to Garfield Park. On street parking is not permitted along this stretch, and sidewalks are narrow and abut the street because of the lack of available right-of-way. My recommendation, in lieu of neckdowns - or even speed humps, which frequently cause new speeding between humps "to make up lost time," would be to add a continuous white stripe two feet from each curb line. This would visually narrow the street without physically narrowing it, encouraging drivers to guide their vehicles further away from the sidewalks, and generally at a slower pace. Also, add high-vis crosswalk painting at Kennedy Street, which is probably the point on the whole length of 43rd Avenue with the most pedestrian activity.

User 4251841 year ago Speed bumps, lots of speed bumps.Hold DeMatha staff, parents, and students accountable as they’re the ones usually running stop signs, speeding, or going opposite on one-ways.Stop signs and/or one-ways won’t work, as it’s proven that drivers around here don’t care.The only thing to slow traffic will be the threat of imminent damage to one’s car if they speed, which can be accomplished by speed bumps! Not speed tables.

M Ryu1 year ago Grew up on Madison St. in the 70s-90s. Please do not make that street one way. We now live off Ogelthorpe. This plan needs to seriously consider the number of DeMatha students and middle school parents that either do not stop at Ogelthorpe and 43rd avenue during school student drop off/pick up times, or worse (and it happens multiple times per week, sometimes per day during school semesters), they drive the wrong way against the one way only between 44th avenue and 43rd avenue up the hill at the corner of 43rd and Ogelthorpe. A stiff penalty and a camera to catch the cars could help with compliance and even generate revenue.

Taylor JOhnson1 year ago Hello, I am in favour of the neck downs and of raised crosswalks with bulb outs. In addition to the need to slow traffic, there is also the issue of elementary school parents parked along the side of 43rd waiting to pick up their children and blocking clear access to the stop sign onto Jefferson. There have been many times when, in order to turn onto Jefferson from southbound 43rd, I have no choice but to occupy the northbound lane at the intersection in order to get around the parked cars. Several times this has nearly led to a head to head collision with a vehicle turning onto 43rd from Jefferson. I suggest that from the 1st neck down to Jefferson be designated as a no parking zone. I also wonder if it would be possible to make the sidewalk/footpath wider on at least one side of the street to better facilitate two people walking side by side. Currently, one person needs to walk in the street in order to do this. I would like to see the bulb outs on Oglethorpe at 43rd and 44th Avenues become permanent.

Jacqueline Beagle1 year ago As long-term homeowners on Madison Street, we would be very against turning Madison into a one way. Currently, both Macaroy Alley and Longfellow Street are one ways. From the plan, it isn’t clear if both these streets would become two ways (which would be impossible in the alley). Or if there would be 3 one-way streets in a row. Regardless, that’s poor design and would be detrimental to the homeowners on Madison.

Kit Slack1 year ago I would like to be able to continue to back out of my driveway in either direction and drive in either direction on Madison. Right now traffic is very slow on Madison because the street is narrow and two-way, and there are cars parked on both sides. If the street is made one-way, I think it will become a cut-through and thus more dangerous. I also I will have an even harder time getting out my driveway without hitting cars on the other side of the street -- sometimes I have to pull out the opposite of the way I am going because it is so tight. I understand that somebody was concerned about visibility at the intersection of Madison and 43rd. I do sometimes find it difficult to see cars heading southbound on 43rd when pulling out onto 43rd from Madision if there are cars parked along 43rd. However, even without traffic calming, everyone has always been moving slow enough that it hasn't been a problem. With traffic calming I really think it will be fine. I have lived here for five years and never seen an accident at that intersection.

User 2199281 year ago

John D'Angelo1 year ago Is there a way to make the bulb outs pollinator gardens/ erosion/runoff capture. I'm also confused by the "neck down." Does this effectively make it so that only one car can pass thorugh at a time? In addition, I'm not sure how heavy the street parking is on 43rd. I'd need to walk it a few times. Would this reduce the availability of parking. On some of them ore narrow roads, like oglethorpe, it's tricky getting two way trafffic going. Thanks!

Mike Cemprola1 year ago

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