Page 6 - WILMAPCO - Fall 2022

‘Pop-up Roundabout’ Demonstrates Solution to
16th Street Traffic Woes
Have you ever driven to an intersection and thought, “Where am I supposed to go?” If you have a GPS app, that might help, but when you are faced with a large expanse of asphalt with faded pavement markings to give you guidance, you direction. That is not an ideal situation for you, other drivers, and pedestrians or bicyclists who are also trying to make their way along the same piece of roadway.
There is an intersection in Wilmington that presents just such a conundrum to drivers and pedestrians: the intersection of 16th Street, just east of the Mayor James M. Baker Bridge, with Pine Street and Jessup Street. Pine Street is one-way eastbound, and
is your only through route. Fourteenth Street is a closed street with only a short stub before you are confronted by concrete barriers, but it appears to be open. Jessup Street is a one- way westbound street. To complicate things further, Reeds’ Refuge Center is directly between Pine and Jessup Streets, and the pavement in front of the main entrance gets very busy as parents are picking up and dropping off children at the day care center, stopping haphazardly with no designated parking area.
The absence of pavement markings extends to the walking environment. There are no crosswalks at this intersection. Pedestrians can be just as bewildered as drivers and bicyclists in negotiating this area. If
this seems a bit confusing, imagine what it might be like in a few years: 14th Street will be reopened as part of the 12th Street Connector project, bringing a few hundred more vehicles during the morning and afternoon peak driving times. When it is dark, the only lighting provided is by overhead lights on either side of the intersection, which is not very helpful to provide illumination for pedestrians or bicyclists, or for drivers to see those pedestrians and bicyclists.
This intersection was part of an Open Streets Wilmington event on July 23, and was targeted for a “pop-up roundabout” during the event. Open Streets Wilmington is a collaborative initiative of Urban Bike Project, West Side Grows Together,
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