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$1.9M study of YSU streets targets safety of pedestrians
By Denise Dick
youngstowN
A study to improve safety and efficiency on streets around Youngstown State University is moving toward completion.
“We’re going to wrap this up this summer and get the final report done,” said Valerie Croasman of ms consultants, inc.
Behnke Associates of Cleveland and ms of Youngstown are conducting the study, funded by a $1.9 million federal grant.
The study aims to identify short- and long-term options for improvements in the area bounded by Fifth Avenue to the west, Rayen Avenue to the south, Wick Avenue to the east and U.S. Route 422 to the north.
It will consider roadway and intersection design, traffic control, parking locations and disability accommodations.
Sarah Lown, the city’s development incentive manager, said David Sweet, former YSU president, initiated the study. The study area surrounds the university.
The affected streets are municipal roads so the city is administering the grant.
After the consultants complete their final report, there will be money left over from the grant for some design and construction, Croasman said.
Possible short-term solutions include addressing traffic-signal timing in the study area.
“The city is looking at overall improvements for the city signals,” Croasman said. “We’re coordinating with them on that.”
As part of its work, ms met with groups to gather input about problem areas, including an alternative- transportation committee at YSU.
“One of the streets on campus we have the most concern about is Lincoln [Avenue],” said Paul Kobulnicky, executive director of the Maag Library and leader of the alternative-transportation committee.
“We’re concerned for a number of reasons. It’s the street that’s most likely to be perceived by our students to be on campus.”
The campus is on both sides of that street. Though there are restrictions now because of the renovation to the M2 parking deck on campus, normally Lincoln Avenue has two-way traffic with parking on both sides.
People come onto that street, concerned about being late to class and are trying to quickly find a parking space, Kobulnicky said.
They may not be paying attention to pedestrians or stop signs.
“They’ll park in anything that approaches a parking space including an entrance to a loading area,” he said.
That committee’s preferred solution would be to make Lincoln mostly one way, between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and to restrict parking to one side of the road.
Committee members would also like parking spaces clearly identified.
Another concern of the committee is making streets around campus easier to cross, the chairman said.
“Fifth Avenue is five lanes, and the volume of car traffic doesn’t support that,” he said. “Rayen is four, and the traffic volume doesn’t support that either. We’d like to see fewer lanes, center islands to facilitate crossing and do things to slow traffic more.”
With the population and industriral decline in Youngstown, it doesn’t make sense to have streets designed for high-traffic volumes, Kobulnicky said.
Because YSU is an economic driver in the city, the committee believes the streets should be designed to aid pedestrians.
“The preferred option for our committee is to see fewer lanes, center islands, one-ways where possible and more definitive parking,” he said. “We want it to be as clear and clean as possible for both pedestrians and motorists so pedestrians are as safe as possible.”