Willow Glen Resident

Letters & Opinions

Bird Avenue needs politer drivers and more police

By Colin McCarthy

I read with interest the article "Bird Avenue residents say street is dangerous" in the Sept. 7 issue of the newspaper.

As a homeowner and resident on Bird Avenue, I agree. In the 2 ¹/2 years my family has lived on the street, I have witnessed daily all manner of traffic violations: speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving into curbs, driving into telephone poles, and the almost daily violation of no trucks over 5 tons.

My wife and I have routinely had the pleasure of having horns honked at us, middle fingers extended and yelled at for the egregious violation of slowing to turn right or left into our own driveway.

With two young children, we have to be extra vigilant to ensure their safety. That is to say nothing of the extremely loud mufflers of accelerating vehicles and stereos. Surely there is some noise ordinance which prohibits these activities?

One thing I have never seen in my 2 ¹/2 years on Bird Avenue is the police citing anyone for traffic violations. Is it little wonder then that the problem continues?

This is not to say that the blame lies solely with understandably busy people trying to get to and from work or errands. The inability to obey traffic laws is fueled by poor roadway designs on Bird Avenue and the streets that intersect it. The wide swaths of concrete at Bird's intersection with Willow Avenue, for example, go largely unused but merely encourage people to drive well above the 25-mph speed limit. The same is true of the two-lane/middle turn lane south of Minnesota. Drivers heading north do not perceive any danger because their lane of travel is so wide, and they drive fast right into a 20-mph curve. The same problem exists on southbound Bird north of Virginia, where three wide lanes funnel into two and then one lane. Everyone races to get to the front of the line going south at the end of the day.

Bird Avenue is not the only street with these problems in Willow Glen. Minnesota Avenue between Bird and Hicks is too narrow for two lanes of traffic in either direction, and people routinely drive over the 30-mph speed limit on that road. This makes for a harrowing walk to "The Avenue" with your children in a stroller.

Cars literally speed by at 40-50 mph just feet away from the narrow sidewalks. One lane in each direction should be eliminated and a bike path should be put in, as on Willow Avenue, which I am willing to bet is no wider than Minnesota.

So the problems are ever-present, but the solution is within reach. We residents can all do our best to obey the traffic laws. Commuters traveling through our neighborhood can do the same and respect the residents by not turning up their music and not loudly accelerating. The city can enforce existing traffic laws and implement design changes, which discourage speeding.

The other thing we all can do is get out of our cars and walk, bike or take the light rail to wherever it is we are going.

Colin McCarthy lives on Bird Avenue with his wife and two children. He is responding to the article about the community meeting on traffic problems, held at the Shukait home on Bird Avenue.