Pontiac Trail meeting 6-4-2007

From Northsidewiki

Meeting Notes
Public meeting about Pontiac Trail construction and pedestrian safety
June 4, 2007, 6:30-7:30pm
Northside Community Center

City representatives:
Nick Hutchinson (project manager)
Pat Cawley (traffic engineer)

Six neighborhood residents were in attendance.

Plans now include adding two crosswalks across Pontiac, one just north of the intersection with Bowen, and one just south of the intersection with Apple St. This will involve striped markings on the street, caution signs for approaching cars, access ramps from the sidewalk to the street, and (for the Bowen crossing at least) some re-grading of the adjacent sidewalks to meet the ramps. Property owners bordering the affected sidewalks will be contacted in advance, and the city will pay for any necessary reconstruction to affected sidewalks.

In accordance with Michigan law, the crosswalks will not give pedestrians the right of way or require cars to stop; rather, they are meant to increase motorists' awareness of pedestrians and provide predictable places for pedestrians to cross the street.

One idea that had been raised in a previous meeting was creating curb "bump-outs" that would extend a few feet into the street at crossings; however, Nick and Pat determined that they could not be done in a way that was likely to have a significant impact. However, in some places the width of the street will be reduced by a foot or two, in order to make the width of the street uniform throughout the length of the section to be constructed.

While at the previous meeting the possibility was raised that construction might begin in June or July, it is now scheduled to start in August, following the city's original plan.

Pat also mentioned that:

- Concerns about safety at the existing crossing at Taylor St., near Northside Elementary, will be brought up at the Ann Arbor Public Schools Transportation Safety committee meeting tomorrow.

- The police department has agreed to step up speed limit enforcement along Pontiac Trail, particularly during morning and evening high-traffic times.

(Notes submitted by Jeff Kupperman on 6-4-2007. Please feel free to edit this page, or add comments in the discussion section.)