Peoria's rebuild of the intersection of Main & University

[tornado]

Another silly defense of the Main & University intersection:

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141014/OPINION/141019550/10950/OPINION

the title of the piece is
"Intersection was built to engineering standards"

Some quotes...
"The intersection was built to engineering standards...
..the turning radius meeting the turning requirements for semi-trucks, fire engines, buses and other larger vehicles.
Shortly after the opening of the intersection, we realized that the stop bars were too close to the intersection
and we accordingly adjusted the stop bars approximately 20 feet further back from the intersection to allow for easier turns."

So - the initial design was flawed, and had to be re-done when they discovered after the project was complete that
truck & buses couldn't make the turns because the design was flawed and they kept hitting the concrete corner structures that held the signs and protected the pedestrians!

This just keeps getting funnier...because the "engineering standards" have never been what people object to - it's the planning & design that miffs people.
They held meetings to see what the people wanted...everyone knows these kinds of meetings tend to bring out the activists with limited and narrow agenda..
and they said the plan was to "minimize" inconvenience to people - then later admitted their intent was just the opposite, to cause inconvenience - make them slow down or go another way, while at the same time guaranteeing the area will become "incredibly vibrant"!
Then they went ahead and built it to their own standards and for their own purpose (Councilman Grayeb said so) despite what anyone else wanted..
then they started making changes when they realized it was flawed and trucks & buses started wiping out the stoplights & signs..
now when they get massive complaints about the project they blame the people and claim they did everything right and it was done properly from the start...

[tornado]

I guess people are just trying to be patient and putting up with the traffic problems - but as soon as the have more games at Ren-Col it'll start again...


I find it kinda funny that a road project came in as one of the TOP TEN news stories of the year in Peoria. But then it was obviously a really, really slow year for news, since the #1 story was a ridiculously minor story the newespaper played up into Twittergate, then others in the Top 10 were cold weather, the usual turmoil in District 150 that was little different than any year, and even the 1-year anniversary of the tornado story was high on the list.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141227/News/141229444

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141227/News/141229444/?Start=5

WEEK had the intersection story at #6 biggest news story on the year - whoa...

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Top-10-local-stories-of-2014-287243741.html

[tornado]

another letter to the editor

"Unfortunately, it likely will take a tragedy before we see any action from city engineers regarding Main and University."

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150226/OPINION/150229407

[CubbieBear]

Knocking over traffic control devices--no place to plow the snow--backing up traffic--hurting local business in the area--BRILLIANT

A simple--less expensive--and--and more effective solution would have been to build a criss/cross pedestrian bridge over the intersection for BU students--it could have had the BU logo adorn it--lit up with lights at night--and really been a visual attraction to entering the BU campus from Main & University--handled all the pedestrian traffic safely without causing traffic issues and bottling up the intersection etc--

[Prexy IX]

Main and University

Students won't use the pedestrian bridge--rather take their chances in the traffic than climb the steps to the bridge.

[tornado]

agree- there will always be risks and always be students darting across Main St., but all this over-engineering just creates different risks & problems -
now you have trucks that can't negotiate the intersection, ambulances that get caught for several minutes in backed up traffic, people who just say the heck with it and avoid the whole area altogether and hurt the local businesses, and you also have the worsened problem of backed-up, impatient drivers turning and racing thru the tiny Uplands residential blocks trying to shortcut & avoid the intersection and putting pedestrians there at greater risk - the EXACT thing all this mess was initially engineered to avoid!

[tornado]

More people are admitting the traffic problems at the Main & University intersection are bad and need improvement...

Now they are spending $$ tens of thousands more for additional computer software to help regulate the traffic lights -
First - it may not help that much since the real problem is the physical bottleneck..
since this software is and has been available - why did they not do this last year?

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/New-software-could--306200911.html

[pfcmsh]

For the record, this plan was supported by the city of Peoria, and strongly supported by the Bradley administration.
The intersection has been a nightmare for drivers, and it will only get worse when Bradley students are back in the fall.

I am surprised the media has not focused more on the crazy design and inconvenience and massive traffic jams it has been causing.
WEEK (cinewsnow.com) did this short article about drivers' fruatrations-

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Drivers-not-happy-with-the-new-Main-and-University-intersection-259164761.html

Just as is shown in the photo, at busy times, I have seen traffic back all the way up to the I-74 interchange, and block people trying to exit the Interstate at University. The city claims nobody should take more than 1 traffic light cycle to get through the intersection, and no more than 2.5 minutes. But the reporter tried it herself, and it took over 4 minutes. I have heard of people taking as much as 10 minutes, and 5 or more cycles during the mid-day rush.

It is a stupid design, and I would bet it will all be taken down and revised again within a couple years, once city people admit they made a big mistake. Every road designer should know that it will cause massive problems when you funnel 4 lanes down to just 2 lanes within a few feet of a busy intersection. For the money spent, they could have installed walkways for the pedestrian traffic if pedestrian safety was so paramount. But this design inconveniences everyone. Businesses in the area will probably see their business remain low and never return as drivers simply avoid the area altogether.

Is there any way to get the University to comment on why they favored the plan?

[tornado]

pedestrian-friendly - auto traffic is less and slower

[tornado]

Front page article PJS
"Intersection still needs changes"

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150630/NEWS/150639910?template=printart

their big bragging point it that now the volume of traffic thru there is reduced...
well of course it is, but you could have done that with a couple concrete barriers.

[Da Coach]

The online article has this headline-
Severity of accidents decreased at intersection of Main and University

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150630/NEWS/150639910

But that is easy to explain, as the chart that accompanies the article clearly shows that traffic through the intersection has been reduced to nearly half of what it was before the re-construction was completed. And the traffic that still does bite the bullet and travel through the intersection, is slowed down tremendously by the narrowing of the lanes, and the short cycles of the traffic lights.
2 weeks ago, when I drove west through the intersection to get over to the BU Athletic offices to conduct the chat with Coach Wardle (I rarely go that way otherwise), I waited through 3 entire cycles of the red-light at Main & University just to get through the intersection, and that was at 10:30 am when traffic is about the slowest it is during the daytime. I pity people who have to go through there more frequently.
So accidents are less severe. That is not a surprise, since nobody can get through there at more than 3-5 mph. I suspect there are still a lot of minor accidents from the constant bumper-to-bumper traffic. If the writer of the article was reporting the complete story, he should have also reported if there was an increase in accidents on other nearby streets (which I suspect there have been), since obviously a large chunk of the previous traffic has detoured elsewhere.

[tornado]

but the article does say that both BEFORE & AFTER the rebuild - in the interval studied for comparision, there were ZERO fatal accidents, zero serious accidents, and zero significant injuries...so it really is NOT better -

Plus despite HALF the traffic and volume of vehicles - that the overall number of accidents was THE SAME after as before....
so, in reality, the actual accident rate at that intersection had DOUBLED since it should have dropped to half when the traffic dropped by half.

What was glaringly obvious in its omission was that they failed to look into how many extra accidents happened in the Uplands, along Columbia Terr., along Bradley Ave, Moss Ave, Bourland, etc...all the routes that the extra traffic now has been forced to go because I strongly suspect & have seen evidence that the accident rate there is WAY up due to the markedly increased flow of traffic.
Their "study" only looked at traffic right there at Main & University and selective avoided looking at the numbers everywhere else!

Here's what WEEK says....
"Some residents living in the neighborhood adjacent to the intersection of Main and University,
say a year later things aren't better, but worse.
"Car traffic has increased here. With that, I have grand kids that are out here playing in front,
and I'm concerned about that,” said John Shorty of Peoria.
Others argue they'll see 20, maybe 30 cars in a 10 minute period more often than not, speeding through the neighborhood.
Cut-through traffic has been an issue, and city leaders are addressing that as best as they can."


seriously - what do you expect - their whole intent was to FORCE a large hunk of the traffic to go different ways - and now they have yet there's little actual evidence to support anything being better - but plenty of testimony that overall a lot of things are worse.
Even business owners complaining and EVEN going out of business.

Thankfully I will be going that way even less now that the decision was made not to play games & exhibitions up at Ren-Col.

[bradleyfan124]

Typical Peoria politics! It does not make any difference what the people of the city want..it is what "they" want. Come hell or high water "they" will make it happen. And if you protest there will be hell to pay. Just ask Twitter Jim

[tornado]

KW documents the Uplands cut-thru traffic backing up for blocks

https://twitter.com/KirkWessler/status/632586105494310912

[amckillip]

KW documents the Uplands cut-thru traffic backing up for blocks
https://twitter.com/KirkWessler/stat...86105494310912

That traffic is pretty typical for one of the two main move-in days for BU (day most upperclassmen move in).