Comments on: William & 5th

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:26:56 +0000

The day will come when some high-school kid will get run down crossing from the library to the AATA and maybe then someone will care about that stretch of Fifth. It if were merely one of the homeless, I’m sure this city would be unmoved.

Also, I ignore all pleas for emergency services’ convenience when it comes to traffic calming — it is a canard. And the last person to ever ask about the appropriateness of traffic calming is a traffic engineer.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:49:22 +0000

Traffic calming on 5th Ave would be problematic, as it is a main route for the City Fire Department to the south side of town. Any delay in FD response may equal added suffering…

By: Matt Hampel

Matt Hampel — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:11:16 +0000

Not having a crosswalk and traffic calming on fifth between the AADL and AATA is one of the most pedestrian-unfriendly things I’ve seen in this city.

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:40:04 +0000

Unfortunately, Ann Arbor intersections don’t warrant any special safety review unless they’re in the top 50 for crashes (out of thousands in the City). If you did manage to convince someone to do a study, it would probably consist of a traffic consultant in a remote location, taking generic assumptions from actuary tables and applying them to statistical models.

The only traffic studies being done are by developers, but then only if they’re forced to because their proposed development exceeds a high threshold of potential trips generated. And who calculates the number of trips generated? A traffic consultant in a remote location, hired by the developer, taking generic assumptions from actuary tables and applying them to statistical models.

Drivers routinely speed down Fifth Ave., thanks to the timed traffic lights, and crashes are common. Street calming measures, planned and funded by the DDA, have been delayed another year so the City can build a new parking structure on Fifth Ave. This will help enable more vehicles to come downtown and enjoy the newly calmed Fifth Ave.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:25:38 +0000

I have lived near this intersection for a few years, and the number of accidents (at all times of day) seems abnormally high. A few years ago a car crashed right into the house on the SW corner. Seems like a good candidate for a safety study.