By Jim Sack
I live in one of the big houses on Rudisill Boulevard, a house that David Foster built, that stands grandly across the street from Taylor University. I am also the neighborhood president and determined to make my neighborhood a better place for families, small dogs and people ambling along toward the nearby Foster Park.
So, for the past few years I have worked with and against the city on a variety of projects, including the Diet of Rudisill, as I call it. (Think Diet of Worms…) Reducing the boulevard from four travel lanes to two travel lanes, creating a center turn lane and adding to bike lanes against either curb.
I am amazed at how much a change in noise and speeding it has made. Neighbors, for the most part, are a bit shocked by the relative quiet, so we send a hearty cheer to Mayor Tom Henry and his various minions for the work they have done. We should include Julie Donnell, president of the Friends of the Parks, for her effort in creating the Cultural Landscape Report that identified traffic problems and made many of the recommendations that are now in place.
Once traffic moved along Rudisill as 40 to 50 mph. Trucks, heavy trucks charged along. Young men, intent upon beating slower drivers to the next red light, accelerated loudly to pass, nitwit cyclists, their hats on backward and the brains somewhere nearer their hips than their ears, loved to rev to the loudest max to experience the thrilling feel of wind through their hair, wind rushing unimpeded through that cavity where their brains might otherwise have been found. Noisy, noisy, noisy.
And dangerous. Over the years traffic lights were placed at Indiana Avenue and other cross streets to help neighborhood motorists and pedestrians cross Rudisill. With the simple, and inexpensive remarking of lanes the light at Indiana and the light at South Wayne seem woefully unnecessary, perhaps better deployed to Washington Center Road or another thoroughfare where pedestrians need sprint shoes to cross, where road kill includes the family pet, where Taladega-like behavior prevails.
Repainting, a very, very cheap approach, has worked. The more expensive approach of lights and widening did not.
Thanks to the City, Rudisill Boulevard is much quieter, traffic moves smoothly at the speed limit and pedestrians, bicyclists and squirrels are coming out from shelter and resuming normal life.
So, this throws into question the City’s plans to widen State Boulevard between Wells and Clinton. It is a lovely stretch of road that was designed to calm traffic and is now to be chewed up and widened so people can rush a little faster to the next red light on their way to the on-ramp to the rat race.
Rudisill is again a part of a neighborhood. When the traffic engineers begin their work they should be managed by planners who start with livability as their highest priority, not speed. Rudisill is a triumph of quality of life. Tom Henry did the right thing and should apply these lessons to neighborhoods all over the city.
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Nice work, Jim. I agree.
Your article does raise a question.
Why is this not the norm across the City? Your example of the West State project illustrates that there seems to be no coherent or consistent plan for traffic. I believe the Rudisill project is more of a result of concerned, motivated and enthusiastic neighbors working together with the City to improve their neighborhood. Perhaps the people on West State have not chosen to do the hard work of building a coalition of citizens to work with and hold the City accountable for the quality of life in their neighborhood.
As much as it may annoy that rude woman with the whiny voice on City Council, progress can be made when citizens are directly involved rather than having something handed to them by the City, and told to shut up.
I agree with you. We worked with the city and are now working well with their planners to redo the commercial area on Rudisill. We are also working with Bobby Kennedy to redesign the intersection at Broadway and Bluffton Road. We want to be a part of the process, I know "that whiny voice" thinks citizens get in the way, but it is our city and we will be a part of making it work.
Jim,
A friend lives along Rudisill, and she mentioned that traffic is now backed up quite often on Rudisill, and that there have been traffic accidents caused by drivers not being familiar with the new layout. Is this correct? What kind of signs are there to inform drivers of the change to this road?
Jim,
I drive that regularly. It has made a substantial difference in a good way for your neighborhood.
I do notice people unfamiliar and witnessed several near-accidents this week, but people will get used to it.
Kent, the street striping was begun on a Saturday and is still progressing. The intersection of Calhoun and Rudisill was a bit of a challenge as lanes were not well marked and lacked turn arrows. I witnessed a couple of confused drivers at Rudisill and Broadway , cell phones to ears, finding themselves in a straight only lane when wanting instead to turn as they could only a few days before. I also say a blue hair turn left from the travel lane at Indiana prompting a toot from a testy fellow traveler. Accidents I have not seen or heard of, but I bet there have been some. The question becomes how to redo an artery while it is in use. Yesterday crews blocked a lane while painting a cross walk. Twenty cars were backed up. They will do more work today, more cars will back up. At my light, Indiana and Rudisill, I have seen no cars, none, fail to get through on a change of light. I do notice however, that the speed is down, racing is over, rushed passing to get to the next red light has ended. Sheep may safely graze. And, there are still "Construction Ahead" signs hither and yon. People just don't pay attention.
I live right here as well and hate that now, instead of being able to go around when I turn, cars feel the need to threaten to shove me off on Beaver. And all the times I've been on Rudisill, I've rarely seen a bicycle. I see it as one more foolish decision by this administration.