Comments for “Next Generation Connectivity & Mobility Plan”
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Cars turning left from Park to Atherton are frequently not watching for pedestrians/ignoring walk signs.
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ReplyCars from Atherton turning right onto Park often speed into the crosswalk at red lights as well. There needs to be more of a pedestrian-only light here.
Like Liked 12 timesThis intersection is one of the worst examples of pedestrian design of any I'm aware of. It's impossible to cross here safely.
Like Liked 5 timesPedestrian light must be MUCH longer and NOT coincide with ANY vehicular traffic. Give the peds and cyclists their bit of uninterrupted time to cross safely. Left and turns from Park to Atherton are DEADLY here.
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My DREAM is to see Calder become fully bike-friendly and pedestrianized, with raised intersections/crosswalks at all major intersections, bump-outs, vastly improved signage, more brick-based design akin to the sidewalks of Fraser St, and a less alley-like feel.
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ReplyAgreed. It's absurd that we can't even bike east on Calder, and are rather meant to sit in or potentially get flattened by Beaver Avenue traffic. That should be a no-brainer near-future change, even with the greater Calder development plan still in progress.
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There really should be a bus lane on College Ave (and ideally, ANY of the red Transit/Ped priority lines should have bus priority). Given that nearly all of the CATA routes converge on this ONE road, it should be a no-brainer. The lane of parking on the right-hand, campus-adjacent side should be removed since it's hardly accessible already.
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ReplyAny time I start to feel optimistic that the borough has its priorities straight, I reflect on the continued existence of these parking spaces.
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I know it's a PennDOT issue and our hands our tied, but I hate hate hate this crossing. It's very busy now with the students in the big new buildings trying to get to campus. Not only is there no signal, there are often large delivery vehicles right at the intersection completely blocking visibility during the morning commute. More than anywhere else in town, you have to rely on having a critical mass of pedestrians for safe crossing.
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ReplyI agree, crossing from the Mcdonalds side to Campus side is very hazardous as there is very little visibility due to parked cars. I always have to walk a little into the sidewalk to see cars ahead, which is dangerous in and of itself.
Like Liked 1 timeWe should daylight every intersection downtown, including this one, fast. Paint, bollards, and signage are all we need to start out saving lives.
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If Fairmount really does become a serious bike route, it would be nice to fancy up this connection a bit to allow access from Corl St Elem via Osmond -- at least put ramps that get you from the sidewalk down to the road. Especially at Robin it's a pretty tight turn at the end.
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A spur connection from the bike path in Orchard park to Southgate would allow people from this side of the trail to access it more easily. There are many places this connection could be made, but this location is probably the easiest.
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ReplyThis would also make it somewhat easier to get from the bike path to the Y, which would be nice.
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It would be amazing to have a place for pedestrians to cross Atherton somewhere between Allen and University (that's a long stretch without a crossing). A safe, legal crossing at Pugh could allow kids to walk to school and bring more foot traffic to businesses on both sides of Atherton. We would need PennDOT to help though.
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ReplyI am not sure it would be so much "amazing" as "the bare minimum of acceptability" but it would certainly be a big upgrade over the status quo.
Like Liked 3 timesThis stretch of road desperately needs something to slow traffic. Just having ineptly timed traffic lights doesn't slow people down. I'm sure the way they have the lights timed is intentionally done to try to slow people down. What happens is that the truly deranged drivers figure out how fast they have to go to beat the lights and go that speed. Which apparently is somewhat north of 60mph.
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Additionally, cyclists need to travel along here too, but they are forced to take back roads and filter through neighborhoods that are also cursed by drivers going too fast. -
It would be great to see a path from Whitehall into Nittany Village park. The park hardly gets any use because there is only one entrance. This connection could also help people avoid walking South on Whitehall after the sidewalk ends. Instead of playing in the street with cars they could have a pleasant stroll through a park and then connect down to Old Boalsburg from the park.
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This light is the absolute best at detecting and responding to cyclists in all of State College. It is outside of the borough, but we should figure out what is being done here and apply it at other lights in the borough. When a cyclist or pedestrian approaches a light it should detect them and quickly give them right of way. When they're through the light it should detect that as well and quickly return to green for cars in the other direction.
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ReplyHah, this light is so good I hate it sometimes. I'm out of shape and get a bit winded coming up the hill from the golf course and then it turns green without even giving me a chance to stop and catch my breath. I agree on all counts.
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This is a very dangerous crossing with the speed drivers go on Blue Course. It would be great to see measures taken to protect cyclists and peds here. Maybe even a bike/ped traffic light?
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ReplyI thought the purpose of Blue Course was to provide a FAST way to get north and south in town. Now it's all stoplights and let's lower the speed limit.
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There was supposed to be a faster east to west route built too after Blue Course was done. Shame that was abandoned.I agree that this is a very unsafe crossing. Because of the curve in the road it can be difficult to see traffic coming from south to north on Blue Course when you’re crossing to Orchard Park. Blue course intersects the bike Lane right there so it’s important for people to be able to safely cross at this location.
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A crosswalk here to get students from the Retreat to the sidewalk that leads to the shopping center would be great.
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ReplyAgree with the need for a crosswalk in this area. If it is raised in some way that would also help reduce speeding on Waupelani Drive (25 mph posted)
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The Sparks bike climbing lane has worked decently for years, but once West Campus is fully built there will likely be a huge increase in car traffic on Sparks and the painted on bike lane there won't be enough to keep it safe. Gill St does not offer a car connection to Westerly so it seems like a much more sensible place for a truly safe separated bikeway that would connect the path behing Delta with the path at PSU campus. This bikeway would also safely connect the golf course path to the Orchard park path. Care would need to be taken with the crossings to ensure that kids riding to the pool or elderly adults riding to the grocery store are safe from drivers.
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ReplyAdditionally the painted on bike lane only exists for a couple random blocks and only on one side of the street at a time. I agree -- focus on Gill. (If nothing else, it would be great to lose the commuter parking spots on Gill by College which limit visibility.)
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Allen is one of our most used bike routes, but the intermittent bike lane made entirely of paint doesn't provide true safety. We need a true separated 2 way bicycle track that runs at least from Atherton to Beaver and which would ideally continue down Waupelani to the YMCA and up Allen to PSU. We'd need to make Allen 1 way to cars to make room for this, and attention would need to be paid to safety at road crossings, but it could become the main artery for safe biking in the borough.
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ReplyThere were 3.5k cars/day pre-pandemic on Allen St vs 13k on Atherton. Turning this 1-way to allow 2-way protected bike lanes would have virtually zero impact on traffic.
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The preschool on Burrowes (OCC) sees heavy traffic for pickup and dropoff of young children/babies every day. The church which shares the building sees have traffic at many other times. Parallel parking on both sides of the street makes this difficult and dangerous. Instead we could replace this with slant parking to make it far safer. This slant parking could protect a 2 way bikeway up Burrowes that could continue all the way to Beaver.
When this street is not parked up in the middle of the day it tempts drivers into speeding, which endangers everyone in the area, but especially kids playing around the school. Allowing the slant space next to Nittany to be a long duration commuter parking space would be an effective way narrowing the entrance to this street for much of the day and improving safety. Alternatively you could bump out the corner there (on the church side of Nittany and Burrowes) to make it even safer.
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The intersection of Pugh and Easterly is a dangerous place. People who live near here report numerous crashes and near misses here. We have to pay a crossing guard to be here in the morning because it is so unsafe, but when they're not here its far worse.
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ReplyCompletely agree! Easterly/Pugh Street is a terrible intersection for pedestrians and cyclists. Traffic is heavy on both streets at multiple times of the day and vehicles are not very interested in stopping for pedestrians. This intersection either needs a light or significant traffic calming measures, particularly given the proximity of the elementary school.
Like Liked 5 timesI pass through this intersection most days walking to and returning from work, and completely agree. When I moved here, I was astonished to discover that drivers pretty much never stop for pedestrians waiting at crosswalks (this was simply a given in Seattle, where I previously lived). This is true everywhere in town but is especially bad here. Regardless of whether it's required or not, it's simply an indication of poor driver culture. If the borough council is serious about pedestrian safety and wants to encourage walking, they should enact an ordinance that prioritizes pedestrians at all legal crossings (and give it teeth with real enforcement).
Like Liked 5 timesPugh needs to have parking put back in as a traffic calming measure. Or they could actually put in real traffic calming. In any event, it's too wide and invites speeding.
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Transit/Pedestrian Priority
Ideally I would like to see an overpass or underpass for pedestrians and bikers here, as a cyclist it's hard to get across Atherton and it's a safety hazard for bikes, pedestrians and drivers.
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ReplyThis crossing requires both improved signaling and some actual enforcement on the part of the borough. An "on demand" stop signal for bikers or pedestrians would be ideal.
Like Liked 2 timesRather than an over or underpass (which is expensive and will not be used if it's even slightly less convenient) we should install a HAWK signal which immediately turns green when the button is pressed (or when it detects a person walking, rolling, or biking)
Like Liked 0 timesWhen the Island was installed, this became an excellent alternative to crossing Atherton at Beaver.
While some vehicles stop for pedestrian crossing at the island, a lot don't.Adding signalling would help.
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Bicycle/Pedestrian Priority
This is a scary intersection to cross as a pedestrian, particularly to and from school with children. Cars rarely slow down, and even with a crossing guard cars frequently cruise through without stopping. More light signaling here (button for flashing lights when pedestrian is crossing) and other indicators along Easterly Pkwy would be helpful.
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ReplyAgree. This is a very bad intersection and dangerous intersection for pedestrians. Traffic always speeds here and rarely stops for peds. Traffic calming measures here are sorely needed.
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September 15 2023
Yes! Even when it did go to the hospital, the inbound bus wouldn't pick you up from the actual hospital. You would have to cross a very dangerous intersection and walk in the shoulder.
Like Liked 1 timeOctober 16 2023
While the RL still ran out there, that might get my nomination for the worst bus stop in the CATA system. I always just caught the wrong-way bus and went out to Inno Park and back rather than risk it.
Now it's probably one of the ones out E College. To catch the bus home from Nature's Pantry, for example, you have to wait on roughly six feet of unprotected, trash-strewn shoulder between E College and an overgrown and steep hill. And there is nowhere to sit while you wait the 36 minutes for the next CC. Yuck.
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