CINCINNATI — Many in West Price Hill are adjusting to a new traffic pattern on Glenway Avenue. While some say the traffic-calming measures are making their daily commutes even longer, others say it's worth the wait to improve safety.
Melissa McVay with the Department of Transportation & Engineering said it’s a tradeoff.
"You have to decide, are you willing to take a little bit longer to get home on your commute, if it means you can walk around the neighborhood with your children and feel safe to cross the street?” she said. “For some people that answer's yes. For some people, the answer is no."
Glenway Avenue used to be two lanes in each direction. Now, it's been reduced to just one lane in each direction.
This changed on Monday, as part of a new design impacting a two-mile stretch of the road. The change is a response to community concerns about rampant speeding and a lack of pedestrian safety.
“This street was not far from a racetrack if you ask me,” said resident Dwayne Smith. "Glenway is a wild street."
There have been over 700 crashes on Glenway Avenue since 2020 — 15 of them involving pedestrians.
When the city collected speed data, they found over 1,000 cars a day were exceeding 40 mph in a 25 mph zone.
James Friemont said the measures have added about five to seven minutes to his commute.
"It's kind of irritating and it’s kind of a chance of someone getting into a wreck," Friemont said.
Dwayne Smith said his young children use the sidewalks in the area, so he’s happy to wait a few extra minutes if it means safer streets.
“If it's taking longer, I’d say maybe five minutes tops,” Smith said. “It’s not a lot longer, I do not see what the big rush is."
Feedback will be collected throughout the summer.
“If overall the community feels like it's not working, the congestion is too severe folks are unhappy then we'll go back to the way things were previously,” McVay said.
McVay said some of the feedback they've gotten so far is that the previous condition of Glenway Avenue was not acceptable.
“Folks are tired of the speeding. They're tired of not being able to cross the street with their families,” she said. “So I think overall, what I’m hearing is that most residents are willing to deal with a little bit of a slower commute just to have the benefits of the new design.”
The trial period will be now through August before a final decision is made.
People are encouraged to give feedback and share any thoughts through this survey.
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