News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
More sidewalks, the biggest suggestion from local residents during a public meeting concerning improvements along Commercial Avenue.
Cultural Administrator Rafferty Cleary said residents want sidewalks throughout the corridor. Cleary said there were also safety concerns expressed about the sections near the local schools where students are regularly crossing the road.
“There’s a real concern with the amount of truck traffic that’s coming up out of Highway 84 and spilling out onto Commercial Avenue in Monterey,” Cleary said. “The speed in which those vehicles are coming up that road and entering the Commercial Avenue area.”
Cleary said the trucks are such a big issue because that area is a economic hub with lots of foot traffic and off-street parking that are put in danger by speeding vehicles.
Cleary said city engineers are now working on a detailed plan for the street with the public’s input in mind.
“We think sometime within February the board of aldermen will have a completed plan in front of them to approve,” Cleary said. “And then from that point, once it’s approved and adopted, it’ll be up to the board of mayor and aldermen to prioritize some of the recommendations from the complete streets plan.”
Cleary said they already had a good sense of these issues going into the open house because of the online survey they took about the subject over the past several months.
“Just hearing the users express those opinions just kind of backs up that, yes, we do have a problem, it needs to be addressed, and getting this grant to conduct this complete streets plan was the right thing to do,” Cleary said.
Cleary said the town officials who were at the meeting made a point to step aside and allow citizens to communicate directly with the project’s engineers.
“They’re the users of the corridor,” Cleary said. “They’re the ones who are experiencing this. They’re walking it. They’re biking it. They’re driving it. And so we want the users to give the feedback.”
