BROOKINGS A recent open house in Brookings aimed at improving traffic flow and pedestrian/bicyclist safety in and around the city drew the attention of dozens of people.
The Wednesday gathering at the Brookings City & County Government Center, 520 Third St., attracted an audience of 46 people interested in the Brookings Area Transportation Plan. Kristi Tornquist of Brookings was one of them.
Im here because I appreciate the opportunity to learn about planned improvements for our city as well as the opportunity to provide comments on whats being proposed, she said. For civic engagement, I think its important for citizens to come and express their viewpoint. So, again, I appreciate that opportunity to learn more about whats being considered to improve transportation in Brookings.
There was a lot of information to absorb, including numbers related to traffic, injury crashes and more. For starters, if youre already grousing about there being too many drivers on the road, well, theres going to be even more of them in the years ahead. For example:
- The portion of 22nd Avenue from Sixth Street to Eighth Street South now carries 17,900 vehicles per day. Projections show that in 2050, this same stretch will carry from 21,400 to 22,200 vehicles per day.
- On Sixth Street from its interchange with Interstate 29 west to Medary Avenue, anywhere from 15,200 to 17,900 vehicles use the route daily. By the time 2050 rolls around, that will skyrocket to between 23,000 and 26,800 vehicles.
- U.S. Highway 14 from its interchange with I-29 west toward Volga will also see increasing levels of traffic, from 9,200-10,800 vehicles per day now to 15,200-16,100 daily vehicles in 2050.
Crashes were also included in the data at the open house, with numbers from January 2019 through June of last year. They showed:
- A total of 1,447 crashes during that period in the study area encompassing Brookings and its immediate environs. Of those crashes, four resulted in deaths, while another 17 resulted in serious injuries. Minor injuries occurred in another 105 of the crashes.
- Perhaps unsurprisingly, the area at highest risk for crashes in Brookings was a zone stretching from First Avenue in western Brookings east to Interstate 29 along the Sixth Street corridor, extending north to approximately Eighth Street and south to roughly Third Street. Portions of Medary and 22nd avenues are also within that zone.
Information linked to pedestrians and bicyclists was also represented, including data on crashes involving those populations, along with crosswalk locations and types of crosswalks.
Walkability was what brought Sandra Callies, an architecture instructor at South Dakota State University, and her students to the meeting specifically, the availability of walking from the university campus to downtown Brookings.
A lot of the comments that they had were about how they spend a lot of time driving between the campus and downtown because the walk could be nicer, (to) put it in a nice way, she noted.
As for herself, Callies said she was also at the meeting to look at different ideas for pedestrian enhancements and streetscaping. She focused on Sixth Street, noting that when portions of it were widened years ago, many mature trees were lost. At that time, she said, there were ideas to add trees, boulevards and landscaping in the middle of Sixth Street.
I think that would be a really excellent idea, specifically at the location between Medary and downtown where the historic neighborhoods meet, Callies, whos also a member of the Brookings Historic Preservation Commission, said. So thats the University Historic District and the Central Historic District that meet on Sixth Street, and if we could have streetscaping and pedestrian enhancements at those locations, it would be really nice.
Pedestrian concerns also drew Audra Kelley Fullertons attention. She lives west of the SDSU campus in the University Historic District and notices a lot of pedestrian traffic that goes by her residence students and faculty making their way to and from campus on a daily basis.
I was curious how the current safety features were serving us, she said. I was excited that the study was being done and just wanted to learn more about how its going.
One of the things that popped out in her mind was how crosswalk-rich the campus is, but how that feature diminishes once a pedestrian is off the campus or away from downtown.
You can get immediately off of campus, but then youre on your own, Fullerton said. And so some of my inklings were affirmed that like, Oh, there are some areas maybe that we could use a little more pedestrian safety, whether thats crosswalks or signage. But I also notice that theres not a ton of accidents happening, so by and large people are staying safe.
Information received from the city on Friday afternoon indicated a number of findings from the open house, including:
- Requests for more bike lanes, protected bike paths, and trail connections, especially along Sixth Street and the Highway 14 Bypass.
- Enhanced walkability through wider sidewalks, more crosswalks, and improved sidewalk conditions.
- Suggestions for better campus-to-downtown connections and overall pedestrian-friendly design.
- Concerns about pedestrian and cyclist safety, including the need for barriers, clearer crosswalks, and protected bike lanes.
- The need for safety improvements at specific intersections and crossing locations.
- Interest in streetscaping along Sixth Street and near historic districts.
- Desire for visual enhancements that also contribute to pedestrian comfort and safety, like shaded walkways and boulevard designs.
- Prioritize repairs and maintenance of existing facilities.
- Interest in expanding public transportation options to reduce car dependency and increase accessibility.
This feedback plays a crucial role in shaping the (BATP) by helping us identify priority areas for improvement and ensuring that our recommendations align with the needs of the community, the city wrote in its release. Public input allows us to develop a transportation network that is not only efficient but also accessible and sustainable for all residents.
The open house was part of a larger study involving the city of Brookings, the South Dakota Department of Transportation, partnering agencies, study stakeholders and the public. Its currently in Phase B, and will wrap up with Phase Ds final report coming out at the end of July.
There will be another public meeting in mid-June. Further details will be released as the meeting date approaches.
In the meantime, public comments are still being taken from Wednesdays open house until March 7. They can be submitted online at https://brookingsatp.com/.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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