How many more residents will be claimed by reckless drivers on Masonic Avenue before the City takes action?
Monday morning, a driver sped through a red light, narrowly missing a child on a bike and crashing into a jogger in the crosswalk. The woman was thrown into the air before landing on the pavement. She broke both legs and sustained serious head and internal injuries. The driver was not cited.
Masonic Avenue has long been the subject of neighbors' frustration and fear. Traffic roars along the long-straight residential street well above the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour. The City began outreach meetings to redesign the street last year, but so far few changes have been made.
Neighborhood advocates have asked for numerous short-term upgrades. Those include re-striping crosswalks, painting the 25 mph speed limit on the pavement, warning signs near merge points, and upgraded signals. The City initially estimated that the work would be done by the end of March, but so far it's only just started last Friday.
Long-term, the street will be upgraded to have fewer traffic lanes, less car storage, and more bike amenities. Those changes are still years away, as the city still hasn't held its final neighborhood outreach meetings or secured funding for the improvements.
A few months ago, a German tourist was struck and killed by a driver just a few blocks away.
