9th Street -- Not a Raceway

To my mind, very little epitomizes poor civic planning more than 9th Street. In the past 20 years, what was designed and intended to be a sleepy residential by-way has become one of the main North-South arteries in Great Falls.

There are several reasons why this has happened, including the location of the Mall, the building of the 9th Street Bridge and the location of Wal-Mart.

However, none of these reasons address the problems that 9th Street creates for Lower North and South side residents.

Pedestrians are constantly forced to play a game of chicken when crossing this street. And they have to cross it all the time: at 9th Street at 3rd and 4th Avenue North to get to and from Whittier Elementary; at 6th Avenue South to get to Longfellow Elementary; at multiple locations to get to work and shopping downtown; etc.

We need to better control traffic on 9th Street. We need more pedestrian crosswalks on the South side of the Street and (dare I say it) traffic light at 4th Avenue North and 6th Avenue South.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Of course, there is a light at 6th Avenue South. However, there is still a need for better traffic control between 2nd Avenue South and 10th Avenue South on 9th Street.