I accept that we must facilitate a certain amount of increased traffic into the downtown core and also make pedestrian/cyclist access safer and easier.
The proposals for the Vernon/Hall intersection with additional dedicated turning lights at Front and Hall along with improved use of Front Street from the east are critical and useful proposals.
However, I concur with others that the proposed changes at High, Cedar, Park and Edgewood will only increase traffic and safety concerns to small residential roads that are ill suited to cope with them.
To transfer problems from one corner to another is futile.
Perhaps funneling downtown traffic to Front Street and discouraging unnecessary traffic on High and Morgan (by adding more stop signs, speed bumps, etc.?) would allow the use of proper sidewalks and bicycling lanes for access to the Fairview area via High and Morgan.
From a long-term perspective, I’m most concerned that by encouraging traffic flow into downtown — through the addition of parking stalls — that we seem to be confronting the issue opposite to prevailing ideas and techniques.
Traffic will only increase with time.
Larger cities currently discourage traffic egress to the downtown core.
By implementing improved public transport, higher parking costs, increased fines for parking violations, better maintained pedestrian thoroughfares and dedicated cycling lanes we can achieve a people-friendlier downtown and still maintain necessary traffic access, but at a truer cost to the vehicle users.
Most cars I see downtown contain only the driver. Cars don’t shop, people do. And they park themselves in cafes, restaurants and stores!
Let’s manage traffic, not encourage it.
John Martin
Nelson