The Burligton Department of Public Works has scheduled a meeting at the North Ave. Alliance Church at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, June 24 regarding the 127 / North Ave. Slip Ramp closure. It is vital to our neighborhood that the slip ramp be closed and the intersection with North Ave. be redesigned.
The current study configuration is far from perfect – but it is a huge improvement from the original. The original interstate style configuration had traffic merging from a 50 mph road onto a busy commercial and residential street. Repeated attempts to calm traffic with an ever lowering speed limit have not helped – as peds had to cross an essentially blind ramp with no way to stop traffic. Bikes heading north had to cross this merging traffic to get to the right side of the road. This was while watching oncoming left turning traffic and looking over your shoulder to watch for traffic hitting the street at 40-45 mph (on a slow day).
With a new configuration bikes heading north (a popular commuting route) will have a real chance of getting through the intersection as traffic now must make a 90 degree turn (this significantly slows the speed of exiting cars) and forces drivers to look at the road as they turn. Peds now have a control button to stop all traffic to allow them to cross. The Ward 4/7 NPA, Local Motion, the Burlington Bike Council, and the local AARP all support closing the slip ramp and working to make this intersection safer for cyclists and pedestrians – as well as traffic that is flowing at the posted speed of the street.
GoogleMap of the intersection (this is the original configuration, prior to the DPW scoping study closure):
View Larger Map
Come out and support the closing of the slip ramp!
In other news – we have a stretch of new pavement on North Ave. Smoooooth. Lane paint went in this week.
