Actual street · February 2024
Four through lanes
Left turns, through traffic, buses, and business access all compete in the same lanes.
- No dedicated turning space
- Long crossing distance
- Little room for refuge or shade
A community vision for South First Street
Easier to cross. Easier to reach.
South First Alliance is a group of neighbors, businesses, and street users exploring a practical change: fewer through lanes, a safe place for left turns, better crossings, usable sidewalks, and bus stops that work.
Same street.
Different choices.
Different choices.
The problem, in one frame
The street is wide. The walking space is not.
Four through lanes leave no dedicated space for left turns. On the edge, pedestrians share a narrow path with utility poles, signs, driveways, and little separation from traffic.
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01
Turning happens in a through lane.
One waiting driver can stop everyone behind them.
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02
The sidewalk is an obstacle course.
Poles, signs, driveways, and broken edges reduce the usable width.
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03
Crossing means clearing the full street.
There is no midpoint where a person can pause safely.
These are dated baseline images, not a 2026 condition survey. Before public launch, the priority locations should be re-photographed from the same viewpoints.
Three possibilities at the same intersection
What could South First actually look like?
Each image starts from the real Monroe Street photograph. The buildings, signals, utilities, and camera angle stay fixed. Only the street treatment changes.
Same real viewpoint
These are AI-assisted visualizations built from the actual February 2024 South First photograph. They show spatial ideas, not measured dimensions, traffic capacity, drainage, utility conflicts, or a recommended final design.
What the vision is trying to change
Five things people should be able to do.
A street design is useful only if daily tasks become safer and easier.
Turn without blocking traffic
Reach a home, business, or side street without stopping a through lane.
Cross in two shorter steps
Use a refuge point instead of clearing every lane at once.
Walk side by side
Pass poles, signs, trees, and other people without stepping toward traffic.
Wait for the bus in shade
Board from a level, accessible pad with a clear path to the sidewalk.
Keep businesses reachable
Plan turns, deliveries, parking, and driveway access block by block.
What has been tried elsewhere
These are established street tools.
The concepts borrow from real road conversions and national design guidance. That makes them plausible—not automatically right for South First.
01
Federal Highway Administration
Four lanes to three
A classic road diet uses one lane each way plus a two-way center turn lane, freeing space for crossings, transit stops, or sidewalks.
See the evidence ↗ 02NACTO
Neighborhood main street
Narrower profiles, frequent crossings, center turn lanes, and medians are common tools where daily access matters as much as through movement.
See the street type ↗ 03NACTO
Pedestrian safety islands
A median can become a protected midpoint, allowing someone to cross one direction of traffic at a time.
See the design guidance ↗
What the research does not prove
No precedent establishes that one treatment works for every block of South First. Traffic volumes, turning demand, transit operations, emergency access, right-of-way, utilities, drainage, and business access must be tested by segment.
From pictures to a real decision
Now test the ideas against the street.
The next step is not to choose a rendering. It is to reconnect the group, update the evidence, hear from the people who use each segment, and decide which questions deserve actual design work.
See the 30-day restart →