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URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — The Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study, also known as the Lincoln Avenue Study, is close to concluding their initial analysis.
Three local groups are looking at a one-mile stretch of Lincoln Avenue that spans from Green Street and Florida Avenue. They hope to find ways to make the street safer for pedestrians and more efficient for drivers. Planner J.D. McClanahan said Lincoln Street’s heavy traffic made it a good area for analysis.
“It’s a major automobile transportation corridor in the area, used by many buses,” McClanahan said. “You also have a lot of pedestrians and cyclists either walking along the corridor or crossing the corridor, moving between the city of Urbana and the University of Illinois campus.”
The city won’t be alone, as they brought in the Lochmueller Group to provide traffic analysis through technical calculations.
“First we start by analyzing existing conditions and understanding where the problem areas currently are, where pedestrians and bicyclists are most vulnerable on the corridor today. And then we focus our future design on how we can mitigate those concerns and provide a safe and efficient roadway for all modes into the future,” Engineer Kate Swinford said.
The study will show the safest and most efficient ways to improve the area.
“We are the owners and maintainers longterm of the corridor, so we’re responsible longterm for the safety of the users of the corridor,” Assistant City Engineer Carmen Franks said.
On Oct. 10, the group will reveal their initial findings to the public. The study will continue through next summer.
