City to Study Traffic at Busy Intersection

Concerned about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in the Central Park area, the City Council has ordered a study of the number of people and vehicles crossing the intersection of Walker Street and Byrne Drive.

The intersection is near Central Park and the Edison right-of-way, both of which draw many joggers and bicycle riders, council members said. There is no traffic signal at the intersection now, and some residents recently petitioned the city to install one.

The issue came before the City Council at its meeting this week, when Public Works Director Ismile Noorbaksh said that a 1988 traffic study did not find sufficient reason to install a signal.

Since then, Noorbaksh said, “staff believes the volume of traffic on Walker Street has remained the same.”

But some council members said they believe the pedestrian traffic has greatly increased, especially on the Edison right-of-way.

“My concern, being one who walks along there, is that it’s impossible to make it across Walker Street,” Councilman Kenneth Blake said. “I’ve had a couple of near misses.”

Mayor Duane Schuster, who said he bike rides in that area, also said the Walker-Byrne intersection is very dangerous for joggers and cyclists.

City Manager Daniel E. Keen said the city staff will do additional study of the traffic situation and report back to the City Council.