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Residents urge council to drop proposed Lawrence Street diverters, staff explains safety goals
Summary
Multiple residents pressed the council to remove proposed traffic diverters on Lawrence Street, citing lane narrowing (from 19 to about 15.5 feet at a cited property), increased side-street traffic and concerns about 8-inch concrete diverters extending beyond crosswalks; staff said diverters are part of a greenway plan intended to reduce through traffic and improve pedestrian safety.
Several Port Townsend residents on May 4 urged the city to abandon planned traffic diverters on Lawrence Street, arguing the devices would narrow vehicle and bicycle space, push traffic onto smaller residential streets and create new hazards at intersections.
Jim Norris, who identified himself as a 50-year resident at the Pearson/Lawrence corner, asked the council to eliminate the proposed traffic dividers at the Garrison/Lawrence and Calhoun/Lawrence intersections. Norris said measurements at his corner showed about 19 feet from the center line to the pavement edge and that the proposed diverters would reduce that distance to about 15.5 feet, “squeezing bicycles and cars into a significantly narrower area,” he said.
Another resident, identified in the record as Joan, echoed those concerns and described the proposed diverters as 8-inch-high concrete emplacements that would extend beyond crosswalks and could encourage risky turning behavior where drivers seek alternate routes. Joan said the city’s traffic-calming manual offers other options and warned that the changes could increase traffic on small side streets near the high school.
City staff responded that the diverters are not a standalone idea but part of a connected-route or greenway program intended to discourage through traffic on neighborhood streets and to shorten pedestrian crossing distances. Staff acknowledged local recirculation trips could occur but said experience elsewhere shows such diverters can reduce net through traffic and improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians when implemented with broader greenway measures.
No formal action on the diverters occurred at the meeting; staff said they had noted community concerns and that the design and implementation process would continue to be refined.
