Commission mulls options to improve safety on road through Lithia Park
By Damian Mann for Ashland.news
A safety improvement proposal for Lithia Park’s Winburn Way received a lukewarm reception from the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission Wednesday night.
Commissioners generally agreed that improving the pedestrian experience, particularly for dog walkers, as well as to add disability parking near the Japanese Garden are both worthwhile goals, but many questioned whether the expense would result in improved safety.
They generally supported an option that would re-stripe 30-foot wide Winburn, creating an 8-foot wide pedestrian walkway with two 11-foot vehicle travel lanes, though they wanted feedback from Ashland Public Works to determine if 11-foot lanes are too narrow.
Three improved crosswalks would be part of the proposal.
The commission has set Dec. 3 to vote on the proposal.
A proposal to reconfigure the “Y” intersection where Winburn meets Granite Street was viewed as an expensive undertaking that might be better handled by Ashland Public Works and other city departments.
Other options that were discounted include closing Winburn to vehicle traffic or adding speed bumps.
Vehicles generally travel at 17-21 mph on Winburn with occasional speedsters, according to a report from the parks department.
The 42 public comments received about the proposal indicate 79% thought Winburn Way shouldn’t be changed, and 36% favored some traffic calming measures.
The Ashland Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), which reviewed options for Winburn, also recommended no action, particularly because no pedestrian accidents had occurred on Winburn in the past 30 years. The TAC committee said other streets in the city have more pressing needs.
“In my opinion, the dollars would be much better spent elsewhere,” said Commissioner Dan Weiner, who lives on Granite Street. “We should focus on the stuff that needs to get done.”
Weiner said the proposal to reconfigure the “Y” intersection at Granite and Winburn was last-minute.
“The modification of the Y intersection was never presented to the public,” he said.
Commissioner Mike Gardiner said he supported providing disability parking in conjunction with a pathway for pedestrians.
He said the Y intersection idea, which he thought was worth consideration, came about to provide a way to eliminate a difficult intersection and to improve the pedestrian pathway experience.
Commissioner Chair Rick Bachman said, “The intersection needs to be set aside. In fact, we may not have much to say about it.”
He said the intersection would require input from various city departments as well as require engineering. Bachman said the parks department faces huge budget issues and the cost of a new intersection is another factor to consider.
“We need to take action on Dec. 3 about the parts we can control,” he said.
Commissioner Rick Landt said, “I think there’s value in what’s being proposed at Winburn and Granite.”
He said it was an expensive option, and he favored postponing a decision and taking a separate vote at a later date on that option.
Weiner said Granite is going to take a beating over the next few years because of work on a new water treatment facility, so conversations about the Y intersection could wait until that work is finished.
One resident proposed a roundabout at the intersection, Weiner said.
“I thought the idea was crazy when I first heard it,” he said. Since then, he has changed his mind, but thinks it’s a conversation that will take time to discuss and develop.
Commissioner Justin Adams, who walks his dog a few times a week on Winburn, said sharing the road with vehicles makes him “feel uncomfortable, but I know I’m fine” because of the lack of pedestrian accidents.
He said he thought the money to fulfill the proposal would be better spent elsewhere, especially given the parks department’s tight budget.
“I’m not sure it’’s going to do a whole lot to improve the dog-walker experience.,” Adams said.
Another option to build a walkway of decomposed granite off the roadway was generally supported, but some commissioners worried about routing the path around large trees.
Some of the cost estimates for the project include $80,000 to build disability parking and other disability improvements, $15,000 to re-stripe, up to $30,000 for pedestrian improvement, $50,000 of Y-intersection improvements and $45,000 to create pedestrian paths above the roadway, which would be part of a future projects.
The parks commission has $250,000 available in its approved capital budget to improve Winburn.
Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.
