By Paula Pyzik Scott
A special session of the Ada Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11 at Community Health Professionals, 1200 S. Main to discuss this proposal. Community members are encouraged to attend.
The Village of Ada is advancing discussion and plans for a Buckeye Ave. safety and parking improvement project that was previously submitted for public comment in June of 2023. The proposal includes creating one-way traffic patterns on Buckeye Ave. between Johnson and Gilbert streets, as well as marking some 52 angled and parallel parking spots within the two blocks. (Two concepts are HERE.)
The motivation to make these changes comes from safety concerns at the intersection of Buckeye and Main and the desire to provide more parking for downtown businesses and residents.
The downtown area is densely developed between Highland Ave. and Lincoln Avenue. Many buildings are mixed use with apartments on second and third floors. An estimated 43 business spaces have frontage on these two blocks; a count of mailboxes suggests there are over 50 apartments on this segment of Main St.
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The Village has advised employees and police cruisers to avoid entering Main at this intersection and has stated that if other safety improvements aren’t made, Main St. parking spots would need to be removed to improve sight lines.
In June 2023, Choice One engineering presented an analysis of the intersection and explained how 32 conflict points can be reduced to 12-13 with a one-way traffic pattern.
A traffic signal is not an option due to state guidelines.
Two concepts will be presented at the June 11 meeting:
A one-way design with traffic flowing away from Main St. on both sides; traffic would flow east towards Johnson St. and west towards Gilbert St.
A one-way design with traffic flowing east from Gilbert to Johnson St.
With both concepts, some 52 parallel and angle parking spots would be located on Buckeye Ave. Angle parking would be located on the south side of the street and parallel parking would be on the north side.
The most innovative part of the concept is to implement reverse angle parking. This feature reduces crashes caused by backing into traffic. It also improves safety for those exiting vehicles with children; car doors open in a direction blocking movement toward the street.
Village Administrator Jamie Hall told the Icon that updated cost estimates have not yet been received from Choice One. His expectation is that some $40,000 would be needed from the general fund for signs, painting the pavement, and curb and pavement modifications.
