Henderson Gridlock means YOU get the Traffic
The Developer’s focus has been on getting cars into the parking garage (which on the surface sounds like a great idea!). At the site, they will have 3 lanes on Henderson: 1 lane towards Central and one lane towards Ross (as it is today), and a new center turn lane getting cars into the site. Then there’s a new 2-lane private road at the rear of the development (parallel to the alley) getting cars in/out of the parking garage. Thus, there are 5 lanes of traffic at the site (2 existing, 3 new) getting cars into and out of the parking garage.
The problem that everyone is ignoring? Henderson is just a 2-lane road directly above and below the site. It will be the mix of cars - some trying to enter while others are trying to exit - that will gridlock Henderson and thus put 1000s of cars per day into our neighborhood during rush hour, in the evenings, and every weekend.
Don't believe it? Here’s the detail:
Act Now!
Henderson is a 2-way street above and below this site and cannot handle the traffic that will be generated by this over-sized development. When Henderson gridlocks, YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STREET will get the traffic, noise, and congestion.
(1) It will be impossible for cars exiting the development site during peak hours (afternoon rush hours, evenings, and weekends) to make a left turn on Henderson towards Ross Avenue. Think about it - there are cars headed north to Central who just want to pass through while others are trying to make a right turn into the development. Cars headed south towards Ross have a center turn lane for getting into the development and a regular lane to get to Ross. If you’re trying to make a left turn towards Ross out of the site, you now have THREE lanes of traffic to cross PLUS you have pedestrians on the sidewalk (woe to these Pedestrians… more on that below). Making a safe left turn will be almost impossible.
(2) When cars are unable to make a left turn onto Henderson, they now must make a right turn and head north towards 75 Central. But wait! These cars actually want to go south towards Ross, so they will immediately CUT THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD to reverse course and head back towards Ross – they have no choice.
(3) During peak hours we have ALL cars exiting the development by making a right turn onto Henderson and heading north towards 75 Central.
(4) Now we have HENDERSON GRIDLOCK! Since Henderson has just ONE LANE headed north towards 75 Central, Henderson will gridlock at McMillian, Glencoe, Capital, and Belmont. When this gridlock occurs, 1000s of cars will immediately escape by veering to the right and cutting through our neighborhoods onto McMillian, Glencoe and Homer.
To add to the problem, Pedestrians will NOT be safe on this sidewalk. ALL cars entering and exiting the site MUST cross the sidewalk. When HENDERSON GRIDLOCK occurs, cars will stack up in the site trying to exit and drivers will become impatient with the wait time. Impatient drivers and pedestrians DO NOT MIX. Drivers will dart through slight openings, thus crossing the sidewalk in an unsafe manner. This is NOT the “Safe-walkable, pedestrian friendly, new urban environment” that has been promised by the Developer. In fact, his Traffic Study completely ignores this issue.
(Editor's Note: If you have read all of this page, you are awesome!)