Monday, October 23

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.

3 comments:

david said...

I think you're right, Aaron, and I can think of a few other traffic issues, too.

Anonymous said...

Let us remember to ask the Archangel Raphael to help protect us before we cross 9th Street, or for that matter! any other street or avenue in Great Falls. Also, with the push for "growth" in Great Falls, consider a boycott of Planned Parenthood rather than Wal-Mart. Planned Parenthood is counter pro-ductive to population growth in "Electric City."

Anonymous said...

?????????

I have no other response to the rant immediately above this.