by Sam Shore
It will come as no
surprise to anyone living or driving along the stretch of Burnet Road from
2222/Koenig lane south to North Loop that traffic is heavy and often
problematic. This section of Burnet Road is much more narrow than the rest of
Burnet to the north of 2222/Koenig Lane leaving no room for turn lanes and no
buffering distance for pedestrians or cyclists. Development
of residential and business properties has increased dramatically along this
stretch and brought additional traffic. One development scheduled for
completion by November 2013 is the 179 unit apartment complex, Burnet Flats,
being built between Adams Ave and Clay in the Brentwood neighborhood. The only
ingress and egress from this development is on Adams Ave, a 27 foot wide
residential street. This project was approved by the city in spite of the fact
that it will increase traffic on Adams Ave from the current 560 trips per day
to 1,760 - a 215% increase.
As a resident on
Adams Ave with 3 small children, I am concerned the increased traffic will
present a significant spike in the life safety risks in the immediate
neighborhood along Adams, Ullrich and Clay. A small group of residents from
this area and the Brentwood Neighborhood Association have been working with the
city staff and the developers of Burnet Flats (Ardent Residential) to address
the immediate traffic concerns. Ardent has offered to pay for a signal at this
intersection in recognition of the traffic impact on the neighborhood. The city
staff has continually been opposed to having a traffic signal along this
stretch of Burnet saying it is not "warranted". However, they may
reconsider.
In mid-January a
meeting was held with the city transportation staff to seek traffic solutions.
A key aspect of the discussion focused on traffic calming and installing a
traffic light at the intersection of Adams and Burnet. The goal is to encourage
Burnet Flats traffic to use the Burnet/Adams intersection rather than to cut
through the neighborhood to find places to get onto Burnet or Koenig lanes. If
you have ever tried to use this intersection you know that it is a harrowing
experience to turn left or right onto Burnet due in large part to the
non-perpendicular angle of the approach to Burnet and the fact that there are
very few gaps in the traffic that come barreling north and south on Burnet. The
stretch from Northland to North Loop is the longest space between signals that
exists when you look at traffic signals between 2222/Koenig and Hancock. Because
of this distance, city staff refers to the Northland to North Loop section as a
"bowling alley" (with us pedestrians as the pins).
At the January
Allandale Neighborhood Association (ANA) Executive Committee meeting, this
situation and the possibility of a signal at Adams and Burnet was presented by
me and Don Leighton-Burwell from the Brentwood Neighborhood Association.
Representatives from ANA were invited to participate in discussions with the
city to do two things - to come to a decision on having a light at this
intersection and to engage in a discussion of area-wide traffic planning. On
February 1st, a follow up meeting was held with city staff and
representatives of both neighborhood associations. Discussion of the proposed
signal and traffic planning for the area has begun and follow up with the
transportation engineers is scheduled to occur in the next few weeks.
From my perspective
we have gained the attention of the appropriate people from the city. The
challenge will be to quickly come up with acceptable solutions and get the city
staff to implement those solutions. There is a risk of missing this opportunity
to make traffic improvements along this stretch of Burnet Rd due to prolonged
planning, analysis, and inability to arrive at a consensus on viable solutions
to present to the city. If you are interested and concerned you can let me (Sam
Shore) know by sending an email to seshore@gmail.com
