Don't dump cars on the boulevard, city says

Hoping to minimize the number of cars pouring into Memorial Boulevard, city officials are trying to convince state transportation planners to revise a $5 million project that create more traffic on the historic parkway.
The current proposal for reconstruction of the eastern end of the boulevard calls for two lanes of traffic to flow west onto the parkway with a single right lane devoted to vehicles heading further west on Riverside Avenue or turning right onto Blakeslee Street.
That means that two of the three lanes would flow directly onto the boulevard.
Public Works Director Walter Veselka said that city experts are seeking to have the plan revised so that only the left lane would be directed west onto the boulevard.
In the city’s view, the middle lane should use Riverside Avenue and the right lane should be for those turning onto Blakesleee, he said.
The City Council backed a state Department of Transportation scheme in 2005 that would replace the bridge across the Pequabuck River at the start of the boulevard and add turning lanes that should speed traffic through the busy junction. It would make Downs Street one way.
That plan remains essentially intact despite pleas from some city officials, particularly Councilor Craig Minor, to spruce up the area at the same time.
The stretch of road between the boulevard and Middle Street is “the most heavily traveled stretch of road in Bristol,” Minor has said, with more than 27,000 cars and trucks passing through each day.
Currently, two-thirds of the cars heading west use the boulevard, Veselka said, and most of the rest use Riverside Avenue, an area the city where the city hopes to make big improvements in coming years.
Veselka said, however, that with the addition of another four-way stop at East Street, which is under construction now, the boulevard will be slower and less desirable for drivers.
In addition, he said, when the Route 72 extension is finished in 2009, many people who now use the boulevard will choose instead to remain on Pine Street and take Mountain Road to South Street.
Veselka said the city would like to see only about half the drivers going west using the boulevard.
Mayor Art Ward said that one reason Downs Street can become a one-way street heading north only is that the Route 72 project makes its use for those going west much less helpful.
Veselka said the plan blocks access to Downs Street from Riverside Avenue except for emergency vehicles that will be able to cross over the curb to get to South Street faster in a pinch.
It is unclear when the project might be finished. At this point, engineers are still working out the details.



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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com