Marion council directs staff to pursue traffic calming, tree plantings and signage changes on McGowan Boulevard

The Marion City Council on Aug. 7 directed city staff to implement recommendations from a Traffic Advisory Committee (TAC) study of McGowan Boulevard between 30 Fifth Street and 40 Fourth Street, following a petition from neighborhood residents and a TAC presentation.

The council’s action follows a petition signed by 82 nearby residents asking the city to study and make corrective changes to the stretch of McGowan. City staff reported one mid-block crash with a minor injury during the study period and automated traffic enforcement data that showed speeding patterns. The motion to direct staff passed without recorded roll-call tallies.

City public works staff described the TAC recommendations as a mix of low-cost traffic-calming and design changes aimed at reducing speed and improving safety. Mike Gitzmiller, public works staff, told the council the packet included a detailed technical memo and the petition and noted the team held a neighborhood meeting with roughly 82 people in attendance to explain collector-street function and trade-offs. Gitzmiller said the TAC will avoid placing new trees where they would block sightlines at intersections and recommended painting crosswalks, adding street trees in visible locations, adjusting speed-limit signage spacing and deploying speed-feedback trailers that are moved around the city.

Gitzmiller noted the limits of some countermeasures: "Every study that I've seen only knows how the traffic behavior change those first couple weeks. A month after watching that sign flash, you become immune to it, and it doesn't have the same impact as it has. That's why we are suggesting the speed feedback trailers." He said the trailers can be cycled among locations so the effect does not diminish.

Council members discussed where trees would be planted, agreement that trees should not be placed where they impede turning visibility, and that an arborist would evaluate appropriate locations. Council members also discussed that McGowan is classified as a collector street and that portions of the roadway were built and accessed like residential streets in earlier development. Councilman Brandt attended the neighborhood meeting and participated in follow-up questions during the council discussion.

City staff said center islands were not part of the TAC recommendation at this time. Advance written comments received by the city included support for tree plantings (with a request not to place them in intersections) from Bob Martin and a separate comment from Pat Croshong supporting the recommendations and opposing center islands.

The council approved receiving and filing the TAC report and then approved the motion directing staff to proceed as outlined in the report. Council and staff discussed follow-up steps including precise tree placement, sign spacing adjustments, and using the feedback trailer on a temporary or rotating basis to preserve effectiveness.

The TAC report and the council’s direction do not create traffic-control ordinances; they direct staff to implement the committee’s recommendations and bring any code or hardware purchases back to council as needed. The council vote recorded affirmative voice votes and the chair declared the motion approved.

Councilmembers and staff said they expect the measures to be a mixture of short-term deployments (signage and trailers) and longer-term streetscape changes (trees and signage spacing) and that staff will return with implementation details and any budget requests.

For residents: the petition and TAC technical memo are on file with the city clerk; advance written comments from Bob Martin and Pat Croshong were noted in the record.