E. Warren Streetscape Taking Shape

If you have a good imagination, you can begin to see the individual features of the E. Warren streetscape emerging this month. We already have beautiful new wider sidewalks on the north side of Warren. You can also see where the narrower bike lanes will be, next to the sidewalk. They won’t be wide enough for a car to park or drive in, fortunately, eliminating the confusion and tension we’ve experienced between cars and bikes.

The wooden frames that workers are building provide the foundation for raised platforms separating bikers from parked cars and serving as a place for hardy trees, which the city has promised to maintain.

If you’re annoyed by the signs prohibiting left turns at E. Outer Drive and at Cadieux, please know that they’re the lesser of two evils. Since construction has temporarily eliminated the left turn lane, cars would be seriously backed up behind a car waiting to turn left from a two-lane street.

Streetscape construction has proceeded with no major delays so far. That’s a great accomplishment considering that most construction projects of this size take much longer than anticipated.

Wednesday office hours from 5 to 6 p.m. on Zoom continue to provide an opportunity for residents to ask questions and raise concerns about the project. You can access those meetings at this link.

East Warren Development Corporation also has a great weekly newsletter which includes updates on the streetscape and other developments along the E. Warren business corridor. You can sign up for it here.

Framing is set for the new raised platforms set to separate the bike lanes from the parking lanes. Image courtesy of Susan Newell

With the addition of the raised platforms, bicyclists will be protected from other methods of transportation. Image courtesy of Jeffrey D. Lewis II