Stroll & Roll
Announcements:
*We hope you'll come join in on the fun at the official Bike Lane Grand Opening Celebration - a Mardi Gras themed bike parade on The Plaza scheduled for Saturday, Feb 22nd
*Click HERE to win an e-Bike and help support the Midwood Mile initiative!
Stroll & Roll is a resident-driven PMNA initiative to improve pedestrian and bicycling safety on Plaza Midwood's main corridors through traffic calming measures, safer street design, and improved ped/bike facilities. What began with this petition has since evolved into several aspects of transportation that impacts our community.
To stay up to date on all the latest happenings, follow us on our Facebook Page.
The Plaza Street Conversion
The Plaza Street Conversion is now under construction between Central Ave and Parkwood. This project was approved after analyzing results of the May 2017 pilot project which showed a huge reduction in speeding. The results of the demonstration project and public feedback from local residents are summarized in a report, which can be accessed by clicking on this link.
The chart below shows two points along The Plaza with the speeds before (orange sections) and during (green sections) the pilot. These numbers speak for themselves! Here are a few stats to sum it up... Only 10-13% of drivers were going under the 35mph speed limit before, but during the trial this increased to 37-44%. Also, before there were about 1,000 drivers going over 50mph with some even going 70+mph. During the trial, this dropped to 15-38 drivers going over 50mph with zero going 70mph.
The project includes new crossing points with pedestrian refuge islands, signal changes to improve traffic flow, and the conversion of one vehicle lane on each side into a buffered bike lane. CDOT expects to be complete with the entire project by the end of February 2020. While we are very excited about the improvements coming to The Plaza, the work to improve our area's streets is far from over.
Improving Parkwood and The Upper Plaza
CDOT is currently in the final design phases for some major improvements to Parkwood - from The Plaza intersection all the way to the 12th Street. Check out more details on the city's project pages, starting HERE.
Our next goal to improve safety and improve connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods is to address the "Upper Plaza" - the section from Parkwood to Sugar Creek, which is currently extremely dangerous for all users. Please show your support for improvements to this stretch of The Plaza by reviewing and signing this petition. Discussions have already begun with CDOT and City leaders.
Transportation Committee
We also formed a new Transportation committee within PMNA to ensure we are collecting residents feedback and then working with CDOT on a regular basis to make continuous improvements. The goal is not just to improve the safety our neighborhood streets, but also to look for opportunities to improve the connectivity with our surrounding neighborhoods. This includes safety and connectivity for all modes of transportation - walking, biking, transit, and driving. You can provide your feedback in the first survey by clicking HERE.
Midwood Mile
Also in the works - The "Midwood Mile" initiative which aims to enhance the CDOT design on The Plaza by adding art, beautification, and other placemaking elements. The vision is not only to make The Plaza a safer street for everyone, but also to create a welcoming, vibrant, and people-friendly place that encourages activity, facilitates connections, and builds community.
To kick things off, the team is working on a pilot project that includes planting 9,000 tulips in two main areas of the median and creating an artistic mural within the new bike lane in front of Holy Trinity Church and Van Landingham Estate. On Saturday, December 14th, almost 50 volunteers came out to help plant the tulips. Work is currently in progress on the design for the bike lane mural, with hopes that it will be installed in time for Open Streets on April 19th!.
The pilot project is just the start of this multi-year project. If you'd like to support this project and help us make The Plaza a more beautiful and people-friendly place, please click HERE to donate and learn more!
Free Wheeling Fridays
This is a regular bike commuting group to help encourage people to try riding bikes to work. The group meets on Friday mornings about 7:30am at Common Market to enjoy some coffee and breakfast with fellow bike commuters. They typically leave for the ride uptown at about 8:15am - 8:30am, making it into uptown between 8:30 - 9:00am depending on people's schedules that day. You can find the event and stay updated on weather-related changes at Free Wheeling Fridays Facebook Page.
For the latest updates on all of these projects, as well as lots of related articles and inspiration, follow the Stroll & Roll Facebook page. Or for additional questions, please email info@plazamidwood.org.