Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Tactical urbanists tackle project
Crosswalk, more stop signs installed at troublesome intersection
FAYETTEVILLE — When Jerry Meredith moved 18 years ago into a house at Rock Street and Mill Avenue he started sitting on his porch with a phone to report the wrecks at the intersection.
Cars came barreling down the hill that is Rock Street with no regard for the yield sign facing west, Meredith said. The 55-foot-radius curb encouraged drivers to do their best Dale Earnhardt impersonation. Only one stop sign abated the danger.
On Wednesday, that changed. The city installed stop signs facing all three directions of traffic. Volunteers reduced the wide turn by 35 feet using AstroTurf and bollards. Children from surrounding neighborhoods can now walk or bicycle to the
Yvonne Richardson Community Center on brightly colored crosswalks.
“We want to make sure that it’s safe,” said Tenisha Gist, the center’s director. “There have been a lot of complaints about that particular intersection.”
The effort was part of the city’s Tactical Urbanism program, which launched officially in July and has been in a beta phase since the beginning of the year. The practice involves using low-cost, temporary material to create traffic safety features or decoration.
A typical project can cost a less than $1,000. It’s a way for residents and community organizers to get a desired traffic feature to happen quickly without a city dedicating thousands of dollars to something that may not work out.
Wednesday’s installation is scheduled to stay for two months. Volunteers then will remove the material and city officials will evaluate whether it’s something that should be permanent.
“It’s going to change the values of the place,” said Sharon Killian, president of the Northwest Arkansas African American Heritage Association, who volunteered to paint the street. Killian added she thinks the new features will make the intersection something more than a “passthrough” zone. Ralph “Buddy” Hayes Park and a stream, Spout Spring Branch, also are
right there.
Alli Quinlan, an architect who sits on the Planning Commission, said Killian challenged her to come up with something that spoke to the core of the neighborhood and increased pedestrian safety. Quinlan has seen how dangerous the intersection can be during the course of her work around town.
A Tactical Urbanism project can’t go up just anywhere. Nothing is allowed on a state highway; it can’t cause an obvious disruption or violate city code. The city has to sign off on each project.
The intersection seemed like a perfect fit, Quinlan said.
“It fits a lot of the city’s boxes they want you to check,” she said.
Meredith said anything helping the situation in front of his house is a welcome sight. Maybe he won’t have to spend his porch time reporting wrecks anymore.
“The thing that worries me is all these kids — all these kids, the school buses letting them off to go to camp or whatever, with these cars racing down this hill going 50 mph,” he said. “Running into yield signs and racing along there in front of the community center — come on, we can do better than that.”