View the full Road Diet plan here

On September 12, 2015, 73 year-old Al Gorman was struck and killed by a car while riding his bicycle on the sidewalk along Parkwood Ave near Hawthorne. A “ghost bike” was placed at the collision site to memorialize him and remind drivers to watch for cyclists and pedestrians. Less than a month later, another collision occurred at the same site, destroying the ghost bike memorial.

The collision rate in this area is unacceptable for any neighborhood.

Parkwood Ave and The Plaza are neighborhood streets where speed limits are all too frequently ignored. Neighborhood residents and visitors deserve streets that are safe for all users: pedestrians, people on bikes, transit riders, and motorists. People of all ages and abilities should be able to travel throughout these neighborhoods without fear of being struck and killed by a car.

By adding my name to this petition, I ask Charlotte City Council to make Parkwood Avenue and The Plaza safer through modifications to the streetscape, also known as a “road diet”.

Parkwood Ave would be modified to have one lane of vehicular traffic in each direction, separated bike lanes, and a center planting strip that would serve as a safe “island” for crossing pedestrians. The Plaza would be modified to have one lane of vehicular traffic in each direction, traditional bike lanes, and a center turn lane. (See images below.) 

A road diet on Parkwood Ave and The Plaza would provide many benefits to the City of Charlotte:

• Offers a safe east-west bicycle connection in an area that currently has none.
• Improves pedestrian safety and comfort by buffering narrow, back-of-curb sidewalks.
• Serves neighborhoods where an active cycling culture already exists.
• Provides buffered bike lanes for user groups that are uncomfortable riding in the street.
• Calms traffic in an area with a history of safety challenges.
• Ties directly into the Parkwood Blue Line Station and multi-use path.
• Extends the pedestrian and bicycle network created through the city’s investment in the Cross Charlotte Trail.
• Relatively few driveway conflicts.
• Demonstrates the city’s commitment to Complete Streets via existing policy.
• Achievable within existing curb line via paint and minor median modifications.

Supported by Members of Villa Heights and Belmont Neighborhoods in Partnership with Sustain Charlotte