Please continue to make these streets safer for all. We cannot become a town that only cares about cars when we are one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America. Pedestrian rights of all, walkers, runners, cyclists, needs to have a place if we are going to continue to hold that moniker. The improvements at Hilliard and Madison are just a start. I would encourage that wherever there are dotted lines on the bike path we take the same course of action and then some.
Thank you for taking crucial first steps in protecting our neighbors by initiating conversations about how to improve safety in Lakewood. I truly appreciate the efforts being made to calm traffic at the Hilliard/Madison intersection, and encourage our leaders to continue down this path adding more infrastructural calming measures in the short term until a full study is complete. In addition I love the additional focus on other areas of opportunity as it relates to addressing safety in our community. Safety falls on all of us, and I support any effort to raise awareness and expand our implementation of the 4 E's as written in the Resolution. Please continue to expand efforts citywide - it was stated that this intersection does not carry the highest rate of crashes in the city, so with that in mind please consider making changes in other high impact areas as well.
Thank you for prioritizing traffic safety. The recent improvements at the Madison/Hilliard intersection are a great first step, but we still have a long way to go. These quick-build, tactical treatments demonstrate that we can take swift action to keep people safe, regardless of how they travel through our city. While these efforts are positive, we need to implement more of these common-sense solutions across Lakewood to reverse the trend of empowering reckless driving. Cities around the country are moving ahead with proven safety measures like curb extensions and centerline hardening, and we can do the same. Let’s avoid over-studying and over-planning; instead, let's act now! Working with local organizations like Bike Cleveland and Bike Lakewood can help us develop and implement these quick interventions. Thank you again for your continued focus on keeping us safe!
Thank you for taking action at the Hilliard/Madison intersection. Any changes that slow down traffic are going to have a positive effect on safety.
I believe we can all agree that this treatment does not go far enough. I am writing tonight to urge council & city administration not to fall victim to the common trap of over-studying and over-planning without robust action. There are proven safety countermeasures that have been studied & established as best practices for slowing down traffic and preventing crashes — curb extensions & centerline hardening, for example, are additional treatments that can be installed with quick-build materials that are low cost and easy to install.
As the city explores long term changes to the intersection, please feel empowered to try different approaches now. Not every change to our streets needs to come with months or years of consideration and planning because many other cities have dealt with these same challenges and found solutions. Lean on the work the city has already done to explore safety countermeasures in the Safety Action Plan and the vast number of resources at your disposal to determine short-term interventions. Please feel free to work with us at Bike Cleveland and the incredible folks with Bike Lakewood to discuss rapid interventions.
Appreciate your continued work on this!
Jenna Thomas
Advocacy Director, Bike Cleveland
jenna@bikecleveland.org
Thank you for your continuing effort to making Lakewood safer for all those who live, work, or visit here. As the mother of a young child who is becoming more independent in walking to school every morning, it pleases me to see the improvements made recently at the Hilliard/Madison intersection in regards to bicycles (an intersection she walks past, luckily not across, everyday). I'd like to see this intersection improved in a way where pedestrians can also cross safely, and hope that council and the ATP can focus on data that will help make these improvements. Thank you!
Myself and my two children were the ones who were involved in the crash a couple weeks ago at the Madison Hilliard intersection. I'm pleased some steps to make the area safer have already occurred, but much more is needed. Cyclists and pedestrians need physical safeguards for protection against cars. There are many ways to implement such safeguards. I urge Council and the City to actively search out and plan for options that would work, at this intersection and elsewhere in Lakewood, with all due haste.
Thank you for your efforts. Please prioritize hiring more crossing guards at a higher hourly rate as our youngest and most vulnerable community members walk to our neighborhood schools - a true asset!
Has Lakewood investigated round-abouts at the Hilliard-Madison 5-way intersection? Councilman Bryan Evans was asked this question last week during the press conference and he stated this was not feasible. Yet many communities such as Carmel, IN make these work, especially where pedestrians are present. Studies show this decreases accidents between vehicles and pedestrians. Why has this not been studied? Especially when the area can be made much nicer. Why not modernize Lakewood, rather than putting short-term solutions which continue to fail?
Thank you for prioritizing the safety of our pedestrians and bikers at some of Lis intersection as safe as it can be. My family lives near the Madison/Hilliard intersection, and we were happy to see councilmembers Bullock, Evans, Marx and Strebig hold a press conference about the improvements that need to be made, with some of those improvements already happening. I've also noticed an increase in police presence, stopping drivers who violate a traffic law at that intersection. Increased enforcement, even if by automatic measures, would also be key to making that intersection safer.
I'd also recommend not taking any long term solutions off of the table, until all potential options are vetted for feasibility and cost and presented to the public.
The last few weeks have made me very hopeful that real change is coming to the intersection at Hilliard & Madison. As a homeowner on Carabel and a Mom who crosses Hilliard/Madison to visit Wager several times a week with my toddler, I'm in full support of the temporary measures that have already been implemented and I'm looking forward to more permanent future infrastructure changes, specificially I look forward to hearing more about the timing of the traffic engineer study and the recommendations they come up with (Personally I'm #Team-Pedestrian-Scramble and would LOVE to see a dedicated bike/pedestrian light). Thank you for meeting with the community, listening to our concerns and making pedestrian & bicycle safety a priority.
The recent improvements at Hilliard/Madison are a great first step. We need to triple down on these types of common sense improvements. We use our density to market the idea that Lakewood is this pedestrian haven, but in my experience it is anything but and we are falling behind cities and municipalities around the country. Please ramp up the efforts to reverse the cultural trend of excessively empowering drivers to operate recklessly and with impunity. We need to be leading on this issue. Thank you.
Thank you for making the issue of traffic safety a priority. We have a long way to go, but I'm optimistic that we are on the right path. What has been done at the intersection of Madison and Hilliard is not enough, but a step in the right direction. It shows that quick build, tactical treatments can be implemented to keep people safe, no matter how they travel through our city. These treatments can be replicated elsewhere. This is a far more effective method than adult education efforts, as we cannot compel drivers in Lakewood, let alone residents of other cities, to attend any classes or seminars or read material we publish or disseminate.
It cannot be overstated how much all of your attention in this matter makes a difference. Thanks for continuing to keep us safe.
As someone who has lived less than a quarter mile the Hilliard/Madison intersection and spent countless hours at Wagar Park with my two kids, I was VERY please to see the beginnings of improvements to this intersection a few days ago. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm glad to see it get started. I am also very interested in how, specifically, the city plans to expand your Encouragement efforts because "messaging strategies designed to get people out of cars and on to bikes or their feet" won't get very far if people don't feel safe outside of their vehicles. This is especially true for people who have already had near misses and close calls. I say this not to be negative, but from personal experience. While I still bike in Lakewood on nearly a daily basis, I will probably never again bike in Westlake. This is because I had a very scary near miss on Canterbury Road while commuting from my home in Lakewood to my job in Westlake and subsequent traumatic experience reporting the incident to law enforcement. That was nearly one year ago. Since I share a car with my husband, who also works in Westlake, this has been a significant burden on our household since we rely on making the majority of our trips by bike or on foot. Reading this communication to the Mayor though makes me hopeful that Lakewood really is committed to changing the underlying car-centric culture that has permeated our country, even in our relatively walkable and likable community
My wife and I have been residents on Larchmont Avenue for the last couple of years, and own our property at 1452 Larchmont. In that time, we have observed very regular instances of flouting speed limits and other reckless traffic behavior, personally experienced near-misses when legally crossing roads at crosswalks, and anecdotally gathered from our neighbors instances of hit-and-runs on parked cars, all happening on our street.
We strongly support the City's efforts to improve traffic safety for all users, and would love to see the implementation of traffic calming measures (on Larchmont Ave and other high-traffic streets), and the removal of parking spots at certain crossroads to improve sight distance.
Yonathan Guthmann and Brenda Prokop
As a longtime resident of Lakewood and now a parent of a young child, I'm very much in support of improving how Lakewood is addressing safety for pedestrian traffic. One of the things my family and I love most about Lakewood is the walkability but with the recent serious and fatal accidents on the Hilliard Madison intersections this is becoming less of a reality about the city we live in. I live very close to the Hilliard Madison intersections and it scares me to think not only of my own child but the kids and families traveling to Wagar Park simply to play. I would like to see more options such as a scramble crossing where lights are all red while pedestrians walk.
Please continue to make these streets safer for all. We cannot become a town that only cares about cars when we are one of the most walkable neighborhoods in America. Pedestrian rights of all, walkers, runners, cyclists, needs to have a place if we are going to continue to hold that moniker. The improvements at Hilliard and Madison are just a start. I would encourage that wherever there are dotted lines on the bike path we take the same course of action and then some.
Thank you for taking crucial first steps in protecting our neighbors by initiating conversations about how to improve safety in Lakewood. I truly appreciate the efforts being made to calm traffic at the Hilliard/Madison intersection, and encourage our leaders to continue down this path adding more infrastructural calming measures in the short term until a full study is complete. In addition I love the additional focus on other areas of opportunity as it relates to addressing safety in our community. Safety falls on all of us, and I support any effort to raise awareness and expand our implementation of the 4 E's as written in the Resolution. Please continue to expand efforts citywide - it was stated that this intersection does not carry the highest rate of crashes in the city, so with that in mind please consider making changes in other high impact areas as well.
Thank you for prioritizing traffic safety. The recent improvements at the Madison/Hilliard intersection are a great first step, but we still have a long way to go. These quick-build, tactical treatments demonstrate that we can take swift action to keep people safe, regardless of how they travel through our city. While these efforts are positive, we need to implement more of these common-sense solutions across Lakewood to reverse the trend of empowering reckless driving. Cities around the country are moving ahead with proven safety measures like curb extensions and centerline hardening, and we can do the same. Let’s avoid over-studying and over-planning; instead, let's act now! Working with local organizations like Bike Cleveland and Bike Lakewood can help us develop and implement these quick interventions. Thank you again for your continued focus on keeping us safe!
Thank you for taking action at the Hilliard/Madison intersection. Any changes that slow down traffic are going to have a positive effect on safety.
I believe we can all agree that this treatment does not go far enough. I am writing tonight to urge council & city administration not to fall victim to the common trap of over-studying and over-planning without robust action. There are proven safety countermeasures that have been studied & established as best practices for slowing down traffic and preventing crashes — curb extensions & centerline hardening, for example, are additional treatments that can be installed with quick-build materials that are low cost and easy to install.
As the city explores long term changes to the intersection, please feel empowered to try different approaches now. Not every change to our streets needs to come with months or years of consideration and planning because many other cities have dealt with these same challenges and found solutions. Lean on the work the city has already done to explore safety countermeasures in the Safety Action Plan and the vast number of resources at your disposal to determine short-term interventions. Please feel free to work with us at Bike Cleveland and the incredible folks with Bike Lakewood to discuss rapid interventions.
Appreciate your continued work on this!
Jenna Thomas
Advocacy Director, Bike Cleveland
jenna@bikecleveland.org
Thank you for your continuing effort to making Lakewood safer for all those who live, work, or visit here. As the mother of a young child who is becoming more independent in walking to school every morning, it pleases me to see the improvements made recently at the Hilliard/Madison intersection in regards to bicycles (an intersection she walks past, luckily not across, everyday). I'd like to see this intersection improved in a way where pedestrians can also cross safely, and hope that council and the ATP can focus on data that will help make these improvements. Thank you!
Myself and my two children were the ones who were involved in the crash a couple weeks ago at the Madison Hilliard intersection. I'm pleased some steps to make the area safer have already occurred, but much more is needed. Cyclists and pedestrians need physical safeguards for protection against cars. There are many ways to implement such safeguards. I urge Council and the City to actively search out and plan for options that would work, at this intersection and elsewhere in Lakewood, with all due haste.
Thank you for your efforts. Please prioritize hiring more crossing guards at a higher hourly rate as our youngest and most vulnerable community members walk to our neighborhood schools - a true asset!
Has Lakewood investigated round-abouts at the Hilliard-Madison 5-way intersection? Councilman Bryan Evans was asked this question last week during the press conference and he stated this was not feasible. Yet many communities such as Carmel, IN make these work, especially where pedestrians are present. Studies show this decreases accidents between vehicles and pedestrians. Why has this not been studied? Especially when the area can be made much nicer. Why not modernize Lakewood, rather than putting short-term solutions which continue to fail?
Thank you for prioritizing the safety of our pedestrians and bikers at some of Lis intersection as safe as it can be. My family lives near the Madison/Hilliard intersection, and we were happy to see councilmembers Bullock, Evans, Marx and Strebig hold a press conference about the improvements that need to be made, with some of those improvements already happening. I've also noticed an increase in police presence, stopping drivers who violate a traffic law at that intersection. Increased enforcement, even if by automatic measures, would also be key to making that intersection safer.
I'd also recommend not taking any long term solutions off of the table, until all potential options are vetted for feasibility and cost and presented to the public.
The last few weeks have made me very hopeful that real change is coming to the intersection at Hilliard & Madison. As a homeowner on Carabel and a Mom who crosses Hilliard/Madison to visit Wager several times a week with my toddler, I'm in full support of the temporary measures that have already been implemented and I'm looking forward to more permanent future infrastructure changes, specificially I look forward to hearing more about the timing of the traffic engineer study and the recommendations they come up with (Personally I'm #Team-Pedestrian-Scramble and would LOVE to see a dedicated bike/pedestrian light). Thank you for meeting with the community, listening to our concerns and making pedestrian & bicycle safety a priority.
The recent improvements at Hilliard/Madison are a great first step. We need to triple down on these types of common sense improvements. We use our density to market the idea that Lakewood is this pedestrian haven, but in my experience it is anything but and we are falling behind cities and municipalities around the country. Please ramp up the efforts to reverse the cultural trend of excessively empowering drivers to operate recklessly and with impunity. We need to be leading on this issue. Thank you.
Thank you for making the issue of traffic safety a priority. We have a long way to go, but I'm optimistic that we are on the right path. What has been done at the intersection of Madison and Hilliard is not enough, but a step in the right direction. It shows that quick build, tactical treatments can be implemented to keep people safe, no matter how they travel through our city. These treatments can be replicated elsewhere. This is a far more effective method than adult education efforts, as we cannot compel drivers in Lakewood, let alone residents of other cities, to attend any classes or seminars or read material we publish or disseminate.
It cannot be overstated how much all of your attention in this matter makes a difference. Thanks for continuing to keep us safe.
As someone who has lived less than a quarter mile the Hilliard/Madison intersection and spent countless hours at Wagar Park with my two kids, I was VERY please to see the beginnings of improvements to this intersection a few days ago. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm glad to see it get started. I am also very interested in how, specifically, the city plans to expand your Encouragement efforts because "messaging strategies designed to get people out of cars and on to bikes or their feet" won't get very far if people don't feel safe outside of their vehicles. This is especially true for people who have already had near misses and close calls. I say this not to be negative, but from personal experience. While I still bike in Lakewood on nearly a daily basis, I will probably never again bike in Westlake. This is because I had a very scary near miss on Canterbury Road while commuting from my home in Lakewood to my job in Westlake and subsequent traumatic experience reporting the incident to law enforcement. That was nearly one year ago. Since I share a car with my husband, who also works in Westlake, this has been a significant burden on our household since we rely on making the majority of our trips by bike or on foot. Reading this communication to the Mayor though makes me hopeful that Lakewood really is committed to changing the underlying car-centric culture that has permeated our country, even in our relatively walkable and likable community
My wife and I have been residents on Larchmont Avenue for the last couple of years, and own our property at 1452 Larchmont. In that time, we have observed very regular instances of flouting speed limits and other reckless traffic behavior, personally experienced near-misses when legally crossing roads at crosswalks, and anecdotally gathered from our neighbors instances of hit-and-runs on parked cars, all happening on our street.
We strongly support the City's efforts to improve traffic safety for all users, and would love to see the implementation of traffic calming measures (on Larchmont Ave and other high-traffic streets), and the removal of parking spots at certain crossroads to improve sight distance.
Yonathan Guthmann and Brenda Prokop
As a longtime resident of Lakewood and now a parent of a young child, I'm very much in support of improving how Lakewood is addressing safety for pedestrian traffic. One of the things my family and I love most about Lakewood is the walkability but with the recent serious and fatal accidents on the Hilliard Madison intersections this is becoming less of a reality about the city we live in. I live very close to the Hilliard Madison intersections and it scares me to think not only of my own child but the kids and families traveling to Wagar Park simply to play. I would like to see more options such as a scramble crossing where lights are all red while pedestrians walk.