Comments for “Monroe Avenue Conceptual Improvement Plan”
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This section is a nightmare. The entire length of the project should be car free. Bikes and peds are in constant danger and pedestrian volumes are very high.
Liked 4 times -
Line of sight is very limited at the west end, pedestrian hazard
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As a frequent cyclist, the sightlines are good enough and the traffic (all modes) at this intersection is usually of a volume that I can slip through pretty easily. But that is due to my willingness to just go if no one else is going. I see lots of confusing "whose turn is it?" interactions as well as suicidal pedestrians. I avoid this intersection when driving - too chaotic.
Liked 2 times -
I avoid driving, biking, or walking through this area as much as possible. Monroe east of Kings feels edgy in terms of chaos, but it doesn't stop me from patronizing those businesses. Monroe west of Kings - I just don't even patronize those businesses because the traffic management is so out of control for every single type of user and the campus access is so minimal and awkward.
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I love seeing the gatherings supported by the Black cultural Center here, I would like to see those not be spatially constrained by traffic on Monroe. Lets reduce traffic (or make it pedistrian only) on Monroe to make space for more street gatherings.
Liked 8 times -
I have an office on an upper floor of Weniger and often the street noise is so loud (engine noise from trucks or loud cars mostly) that I can't have a meeting in my office with the window open. Please consider making this a reduced vehicle or pedistrian only road.
Liked 3 times -
All of Monroe from 14th to 26th, would feel safer and more user friendly if it were limited to pedestrians, bicycles, and public transit, with car access to the parking lots by way of 25th, 23rd, and other cross streets. Delivery trucks can use alleys or parking behind businesses. Monroe stress does not work as an arterial for vehicle traffic, especially considering that all through traffic has to shift to Arnold Way and to Harrison anyway, please divert all traffic to Harrison/Van Bueren, add better cross walks on those streets and leave Monroe for positive community building - more small businesses, students, regular street gatherings.
Liked 9 times -
Really like the idea of making this a bike and bus only space (with exceptions for delivery truck, as needed or during early hours). Ideal would be promenade (as mentioned elsewhere) with covered and green spaces wherever room allows. Let's no let the parking access be the only reason we do not dream bigger and better. We can always find parking solutions (or better yet, alternatives).
Liked 6 times -
Like I said for the 14th and Kings intersections:
A roundabout and some blinking pedestrian signs should ease up the flow of this intersection and make it safer. Since 26th is a one-way road, making the street enter the roundabout in the same direction as the roundabout's flow should discourage people from going down the wrong way.
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Like I said for the Monroe and 14th Intersection:
Please place a roundabout here and use blinking pedestrian signs so people can signal for crossing the road, which should increase the safety of this intersection. A roundabout will prevent the need to widen the entire road to make a turn lane for a stop light. Currently this is a stop sign intersection.
Liked 2 times -
Ideally, there would be a place for the bus to pull off the side of the road (everywhere in the city, but certainly on Monroe). When the bus blocks traffic, people or bikes are tempted to pass creating a dangerous situation.
Liked 3 times -
This whole intersection can be vastly improved if it was a roundabout.
All the other suggestions keep asking for turn lanes here there and everywhere, but that is already kind of the case. This intersection coming from 14th street is in such a manner that THREE of the four lanes are just used for dealing with Monroe. The right turn lane very awkwardly splits off the four-lane road in which it is immediately met with a bus stop in which a stopped bus will block the entire turn lane. Not to mention the same awkward right turn ramp splitting off 14th makes a second cross walk which makes it riskier for pedestrians especially since they have no light signals.
A roundabout would not be susceptible to black outs because you wouldn't really need a stop light. During a black out, this intersection absolutely will clog up into complete chaos because when a stop light is not working, the intersection becomes a stop sign intersection. Again, this can be fixed with a roundabout and some yield signs at every entrance of the roundabout.
To make said roundabout safe for pedestrians, having some blinking cross walk lights will help, and making those blinking lights solar powered and off grid will keep it safe from blackouts. Pedestrians on this intersection sometimes get really antsy and just can't bring themselves to wait for the stop light to change, so they'll just run out in front of me to get to the other side of the road. With blinking lights for a roundabout instead of a stoplight system, the pedestrians can cross at any time and not catch me by surprise like that.
Another way a roundabout can help is because they remove the need for so many turn lanes, you can then make a bus-only lane with the leftover space. Busses use this road a LOT, so much to the point that they deserve their own lane in my opinion, especially since they have so many stops along Monroe. With each bus stop the bus sits at, it blocks the non-bus drivers and gums up the whole street. This is especially so because there are two entities sending busses down this street: the city's busses and also OSU.
With a roundabout, we'd be given the choice to exit and go down any street we want, even if we want to go back down the road we came from, and if I miss my exit, I can just go around it again and not be forced to get lost in Corvallis' back streets. It would also make it safer, because suddenly we only have to care about who's coming from the left, not who's coming from both the left and the right, nor do we have to cross over a lane to turn left and hope no one runs a red light. With a roundabout, we can turn right without having to take the special off ramp and worry about pedestrians. With a roundabout, we don't have to gum up the road by waiting for a stop light to change for special lanes. It's a lot smoother and is frankly the superior form of traffic management, and it's no wonder why Europe uses them so much (even though they are an American invention). It's also small wonder that so many American towns are starting to implement roundabouts more into their road infrastructure. I think this intersection is a perfect place for Corvallis to start doing the same.
If you do decide to place a roundabout here, please place some signs reminding people to use their turn signal when they exit so the person yielding to get into the roundabout knows they have an opening to do so. If people don't use their turn signals (and a lot of Americans tend not to) it makes the roundabout less effective. Having that reminder should help.
Liked 1 time -
Throughout this corridor bike lanes are unprotected (paint is not protection); and worse, people biking are forced to contend with vehicle traffic on one side and a car door zone on the other. This bike lane design is old-fashioned, dangerous, and discouraging to people who would like to bicycle for transportation.
Liked 7 times -
We bike and take transit to these restaurants and would love to see a tree lined boulevard with more room for beautiful cafe seating and wider sidewalks. Throughout this corridor, I would like to see bike parking moved to the parking lane rather cluttering up already narrow sidewalks.
Liked 6 times -
Currently, vehicle is allowed to go in every direction and cut through every street that insects with Monroe Avenue. This makes everything worse for all other road and sidewalk users and discourages active transportation to and from OSU and the businesses along Monroe. Please designate a vehicle traffic network and close some connections to through-traffic, which will lead to fewer conflicts, better/predictable traffic flow, and reduce crashes and collisions among all road users, and especially making it safer for people walking and biking.
Liked 1 time -
There needs to be stronger separation of bike, pedestrian, and motor vehicle traffic.
A shift to a pedestrian & bike-only street may seem too dramatic, but one of the best things we can do if people want to maintain the size of Corvallis while improving the quality of life, is to place an emphasis on efficiency and optimization. It is not space nor energy efficient for an individual to drive a motor vehicle to travel across Monroe, and it is a right reserved only to a select few (car-owners, which is a quite expensive endeavor).
All stakeholders need to be considered of course as several people who work or study nearby commute via motor-vehicle for example. But to think that Monroe is the only place people can drive or access the university is absurd (especially as new parking is already under construction in other parts of campus).
Whatever is decided, I just hope that changes are made to benefit all people, not just one group of people. Many people who live and work here rely on cars and are threatened by pedestrian-only options, but if you create practical and good options for transportation that serve everyone and eliminate the need for cars, you’ll see a lot more people happy to not be sitting in traffic, spending money on gas/electricity, and rather engaging with their community and surroundings.
Liked 6 times -
I have almost been hit by cars many times while cycling down this part of Monroe. These incidents always happen at the intersection of 14th and Monroe. Cars traveling East along Monroe that turn right onto 14th too often do not look or do not care about cyclists going straight down Monroe, and many cars have turned into me, forcing me to brake hard or swerve out of their way.
Liked 2 times -
please consider installing bollards on Monroe to present right turning vehiels from using bike lane for right turns
Liked 5 times -
Having cars on this road makes it more dangerous for pedestrians, bicyclists, and people that ride the bus. It would benefit from being a bus-only road with physical division between the bike lane and the road.
Liked 7 times -
Hit by Car on bike at this intersection due to heavy car use from Monroe to Harrison
Liked 1 time -
Keep on-street parking and two-way access. This is a city street, used by more than OSU-related people.
Liked 1 time -
Reduce noise pollution and increase safety by banning cars with modified mufflers from operating in this area. Better yet, simplify the city/state noise ordinance laws to just say no one can do this, period. As written, the current law is unenforceable. The law should be rewritten like this one: ttps://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=6314
Noise pollution from these vehicles is distracting, stress-inducing, harmful to wildlife, and a safety hazard for bikes and pedestrians.
Liked 6 times -
The lighting is fine. This project should not contribute to the increasing light pollution in this city.
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This intersection often feels unsafe. Pedestrians and bicycles come from so many different directions that is is hard to keep track of them all, and with all the pedestrians it is difficult to know which vehicle has right of way.
Liked 1 time -
This light takes way too long when crossing Monroe.
Liked 0 times