2nd Ward Democrats Urge Action on Washington Avenue Improvement Project

Washington Avenue is currently scheduled to be repaved in the Spring and Summer of 2022. As part of the repaving project, the City’s Office of Transportation Infrastructure and Sustainability (“OTIS”) has engaged in a multi-year public outreach campaign regarding proposed designs to improve safety on the Avenue for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. This culminated in an online survey sent out in 2020 that asked residents whether they preferred one of three options for Washington Avenue. The results of the electronic survey overwhelmingly favored a three-lane option, which was seen by neighbors as the safest design. The results of the survey and OTIS’s announcement of the “Final Design Decision” using the three-lane option can be seen here.

However, since this Final Design Decision was made in 2020, the pandemic has delayed the Streets Department’s repaving schedule. In 2021, OTIS decided to reopen the public engagement process. This culminated in another survey being sent out, this time a paper survey, to local residents about the design. The results, again, overwhelmingly favored a three-lane option.

Despite its previous announcement of a “Final Design Decision,” and despite immense public support for a three-lane Avenue, OTIS has not publicly supported its own “Final Design Decision” since reopening public engagement.

The Second Ward encompasses all of Washington Avenue east of Broad Street. Our constituents will bear the consequences of the City’s design decision for years to come. With their interests in mind and with a nod to the results of the public outreach campaign detailed above, the Second Ward Democrats publicly call on:

1. OTIS to proceed with the repaving of Washington Avenue using the three-lane option as outlined in its “Final Design Decision” from 2020; and
2. Councilmembers Mark Squilla and Kenyatta Johnson to publicly announce their support for the three-lane option as outlined in OTIS’s “Final Design Decision”.

-2nd Ward Democrats