Center left-turn lane ‘good fit’ for Lyon Street
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MARSHALL -- Safety updates are planned for a pedestrian crossing in front of Park Side Elementary next year -- but before that happens, the Marshall City Council is considering the possibility of painting a center turn lane on part of Lyon Street.
Earlier this week, council members discussed the proposal, but held off action until city staff could notify and get input from neighboring property owners.
Marshall City Engineer Jason Anderson said staff were proposing to re-paint traffic lanes on Lyon Street between Adobe Road and Highway 23, to add a center left-turn lane. The project would go along with a planned pedestrian safety project near the school. Currently, there is a pedestrian crosswalk near the intersection of Adobe Road and Lyon Street, running from the school to the sidewalk near Independence Park.
"In 2022, the city plans to complete an enhanced pedestrian crossing project at Adobe Road," Anderson said. The crossing would be updated with new school zone signs and signals, as well as a pedestrian refuge median. This style of median gives pedestrians a safe place to wait if they can't get across both lanes of traffic on a street.
To help prepare for the center median, city staff were proposing new road striping with a center turn lane, Anderson said.
"The roadway has got adequate width, and we think this is actually a pretty good fit for this area, to provide a left turn lane," he said.
However, re-striping the street would mean some changes to parking availability, Anderson said. There's currently a bike lane running along Lyon Street. In order to keep it, the city would need to remove parking lanes on both sides of Lyon Street between Jewett Street and Adobe Street. Keeping on-street parking on both sides of the street along with a center turn lane would narrow the traffic lanes, he said.
In discussion, some council members asked if the bike lane should be moved off-street instead.
"Does it make better sense to force the kids up onto the sidewalk, and we make the sidewalk part of the bike trail system . . . and leave the road as it is?" said council member Steven Meister.
Currently, the sidewalk near Independence Park is four feet wide, and is used by a lot of pedestrians, said Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes. It would probably need to be wider to accommodate both walkers and bikers, he said.
Building a bike trail all across the park property could cost over $100,000, Anderson said. Plus, there are already trails in the park that are in need of updates. Keeping the on-street bike lane "is a lower cost answer, and it matches what you have today," Anderson said.
Council members James Lozinski and John DeCramer asked if city staff had notified nearby property owners about the proposal. Two homes on Lyon Street near Adobe Road would lose on-street parking. Council members also expressed concerns about the Hamilton Funeral Home further down the street possibly losing on-street parking.
Based on council members' concerns, Anderson said he could notify neighboring property owners and bring the proposal back to the council. Byrnes replied that the idea "made sense."
Council members voted to table the proposal until their next regular meeting.