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Resident urges IDOT Prospect Avenue redesign be limited to 4-to-3 lane conversion, not widening or unprotected bike lanes
Summary
A longtime Champaign resident urged city leaders to push back on aspects of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Prospect Avenue project that would widen the street, remove parkway trees and add unprotected bike lanes; city staff said the issue will be discussed at an upcoming planning/public-works coordination meeting.
At the March 4 City Council meeting, resident Laurie Reynolds urged the city to reopen its consideration of the Illinois Department of Transportation Prospect Avenue project and to resist two aspects of the current proposal: widening the street (which would remove the parkway and trees) and installing unprotected bike lanes.
Reynolds said she supports converting the roadway from four lanes to three (one travel lane each way plus a center turn lane) to improve safety, but she argued that the additional widening and unprotected bike lanes are inappropriate for Prospect given average daily traffic near 20,000 vehicles and a 35-mph speed limit. She cited guidance from the National Association of City Transportation Officials indicating that unprotected bike lanes are more appropriate on roads with fewer than 6,000 vehicles per day at 25 mph or lower.
City staff told council they have not had recent conversations with IDOT on this project and that Prospect Avenue is on the agenda for the city’s planning/public-works coordination meeting the following Monday; staff said they will follow up and share what they learn. Reynolds asked whether right-of-way acquisition had begun; staff did not provide a definitive answer on that point during the meeting.
Her remarks prompted no formal council action that night; staff said they will look into the status of IDOT’s project and report back.
