Anyone who has taken a stroll down East Avenue in the Park Avenue area knows how lovely it is. The houses are from an era when aesthetics mattered. The trees are big and tall and the lawns roll to the entrances of some of the most beautiful houses in the area. And then there was the four lanes of traffic teetering just centimeters from the old stone curbs. I walked my son to school down East Avenue and we were drenched during rainstorms and snow melting times as traffic barreled through paying no mind to pedestrians and bicyclists. I used to yell like an old lady at people driving way too fast: “Slow down! People live around here!” (Maybe that’s the real reason we were drenched by passing traffic.)
When we used to visit Rochester and walk across East Avenue, my husband would always lament about what a shame it was that East Avenue had so many lanes of traffic. It’s impossible to cross and detracted from the beauty and tranquility of the original design of the grand street. Once we moved here, he continued his laments.
It appears the urban planning gods heard our cries.
Construction crews had been working on East Avenue for months this summer. We thought they were doing the usual repaving and filling of pot holes. The work was done and we took a walk down East Avenue like we usually do. It was quieter and calmer than it was before repair work began. And, low and behold, a miracle had occurred. The traffic lanes had been taken from 4 to 2 lanes. There is actually a shoulder on either side that provides a buffer for pedestrians, a safe place for bicyclist and a dedicated place for people who have to turn left. These changes immediately transformed East Avenue. With only two lanes of traffic, it appeared that people were actually driving more slowly instead of barreling down the street as if it was a thruway. People were actually bicycling down East Avenue! There were birds singing and I think I saw some people skipping and twirling.
Oh happy day!
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