Planning Commission Meeting Kicks Off Period of Public Review on Downtown Traffic Engineering Study
There will be a community meeting on Thursday evening. Commissioners on Wednesday said there needs to be an emphasis on safety measures beyond one-way to two-way traffic conversion.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Fredericksburg Planning Commission Chair David Durham on Wednesday urged the public to think of the downtown traffic study prepared by the Timmons Group and published this fall as “a menu of options”—not a plan that will be implemented in one fell swoop.
“City Council will weigh in on this and they are not going to take one vote on whether to implement this,” Durham said during the Planning Commission’s meeting this week. “They’re going to [consider the] City Manager’s recommendation to put various projects into the Capital Improvement Plan. Some of these things may never be adopted. It’s essentially a menu of options that the City Manager will consider as he builds his budget and the CIP.”
The Planning Commission’s Wednesday meeting kicked off a period of public review and feedback on the study, which, according to its introduction, was conducted “at the request of the City of Fredericksburg” to “evaluate the feasibility and potential impacts of converting select one-way streets to two-way streets in a downtown area.”
City staff transmitted the final study and its recommendations to the Planning Commission last month, noting that the current one-way downtown traffic configuration serves a need that doesn’t exist anymore—the need to move a high volume of traffic through the city quickly.
The study recommends that Princess Anne, Caroline, William, and Amelia streets all be converted from one-way to two-way travel.
It also recommends the addition of bicycle lanes along Princess Anne, Sophia, and Caroline streets, and that Prince Edward Street become a “Bicycle Boulevard,” defined by the Federal Highway Administration as “a low-stress shared roadway bicycle facility, designed to offer priority for bicyclists operating within a roadway shared with motor vehicle traffic.”
The safety of motorists, bike-riders, and pedestrians navigating downtown traffic is everyone’s priority, as reflected in public comments made at Wednesday’s meeting and submitted in letters, and in comments from City Council and Planning Commission members over the past month.
Research over the past several years has shown that converting one-way streets to two-way streets is one way to improve safety—traffic accidents decrease because vehicle speed is reduced.
But in downtown Fredericksburg, there is concern over how trucks making deliveries to downtown stores and restaurants, as well as emergency vehicles, will be able to navigate two-way traffic with parked cars along the roadway, and over how residents will be affected by the change.
Durham pointed out that the study is “a little weak in its contemplation of additional safety measures, like raised crosswalks.”
“I suggest staff look at ways to enhance [safety],” beyond the proposed one-way to two-way conversion, Durham said.
Commissioner Mary-Margaret Marshall agreed that the discussion going forward should include other potential safety improvements and bring in more stakeholders, including the police department.
“I’ve said that I think this traffic study could have been done better,” she said. “Every single person has said safety is a concern. There’s something missing in this study. We have an ethical responsibility as Commissioners to figure out how we can make this city safer.”
She continued, “I would say to everybody who doesn’t want this, ‘Let’s figure something out.’ Speeding is an issue. Enforcement [of delivery trucks parallel-parked illegally] is something that comes up. These are issues that need to be broached with the police department.”
Durham said the city should also be looking at ways to better control key downtown intersections.
There will be a chance for more dialogue about the study at a community meeting this evening, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Fredericksburg Visitor Center at 601 Caroline Street.
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Lots of good stuff in the study but the plan sacrifices safety for expedience. Two examples include sight distances at intersections and basic fire safety to provide a fire apparatus access road w minimum required 20’ width free of obstructions. Safety? Not sure who designed a 10’ travel lane w 8’ parking either side as part of the study/plan but I sure hope my tax dollars did not pay for same.