Residents of the Whatcom Falls neighborhood are seeking improvements for Lakeway Drive and Electric Avenue, which they say are needed to make the streets safer.
Some residents say Electric Avenue needs a crosswalk to provide better access to the neighborhood’s commercial district, Whatcom Falls Park and a bus stop. Helen Rondestvedt, a resident of the neighborhood, described in an e-mail how pedestrians have to hastily cross the road, because it is a high-traffic street. Some of her elderly friends have a hard time hurrying to the other side to catch a bus downtown.
Bill Coberly is a letter carrier who explained some of the problems he sees on Electric Avenue. He agreed the street needs a crosswalk to improve safety, but also said the road should have curbs and sidewalks. During the summer months, many people travel to Whatcom Falls Park and Bloedel Donovan Park and the parking lots fill up, he said. When that happens, most drivers pull off to the side of the road.
“Sometimes the cars block driveways and mailboxes,” Coberly said. He added that because there is no curb, it is difficult to control where drivers park vehicles.
Iain Davidson, the president of the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood Association, said that without sidewalks, people instead walk on the edge of the pavement near the white line. Many pedestrians move between Whatcom Falls Park and Bloedel Donovan Park via Electric Avenue. Sometimes they walk in the traffic lanes, especially in the summer when parked cars block the shoulder. Installing proper curbs and sidewalks would deter drivers from parking on Electric Avenue and provide pedestrians a safer alternative to walking in the street, he said.
Bellingham Transportation Planner Chris Comeau said that he has looked at installing some crosswalks along Electric Avenue, but the project depends on funding and other factors. He said constructing a sidewalk between the Whatcom Falls Park and Bloedel Donovan Park would require a lot of funding.
“Regarding the sidewalk along Electric...it’s essentially a one-mile long stretch of roadway and putting curb, gutter and sidewalk along there would be very expensive,” Comeau said. He added that the project would take a lot of planning, but the city might work on it in the future.
Davidson said enhancing shared use (pedestrian and cyclist as well as driver use) of roads would increase safety for both drivers and cyclists. One of his top traffic concerns is the absence of a bike lane on Lakeway Drive, which many commuters use to access the neighborhood.
In 1978, a report titled “Bicycle Facilities Planning” was compiled for the Bellingham Office of Planning and Community Development. The report detailed a five-year plan and a 25-year plan regarding developments for cyclists. The Whatcom Falls neighborhood plan cited the report in a section that discusses putting a bike lane on Lakeway Drive. Although the city has not yet added the bike lane, signs indicating cyclists may be on the roadway have been installed.
The City of Bellingham adopted the 2011 Transportation Improvement Program, which details all traffic improvement projects and funding for the next six years. Unfortunately for the residents of Whatcom Falls, no projects are included on the 2011 TIP for the neighborhood. Although funding and space on the TIP program is limited, projects can be added when the plan is updated each year on July 1, according to the TIP webpage on the City of Bellingham website.
Davidson said the wait for traffic improvements will likely be a long one. In the meantime, the WFNA is working with the city to update the neighborhood plan, which could help prioritize specific TIP projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment