“As you recall, we met with the citizens of Ross Avenue nearly two years ago, and through the efforts of (traffic operations system manager) Scott Hoover and the Traffic Engineering Department, they were able to secure this grant,” Engle said.
The city and residents of Ross Avenue, who live between Millville Avenue and South B Street, met in a public meeting on Sept. 23, 2021 to voice concerns to the city administration and council. The primary items of concern were speeding and pedestrian safety.
“As a result of this meeting, we authorized a consultant to perform a traffic study,” Engle said to the Journal-News. “The Hamilton Police Department also performed numerous stealth speed studies to evaluate the speeding issue and determined speeding was an issue.”
Ross Avenue parallels Main Street and is adjacent to the city’s central business district, and as Hamilton continues to see major development growth in the city, the need has become more apparent for improved pedestrian crossings. The Journal-News reported in August 2021, about a month before the Ross Avenue stakeholder meeting, motorists regularly run stop signs in addition to speeding.
The Hamilton Police were called to 158 crashes on Ross Avenue from 2020-23. There were 287 reports of speeding.
The speed limit, like many residential streets in the city, is 25 miles per hour.
Engle told City Council the project isn’t expected to start until Fiscal Year 2026, but the city will receive funding for engineering and construction funding. The city’s share of the project is around $360,000.
“A big win for the city,” he said. “We’re going to make pedestrian improvements along Ross Avenue, including bump outs at all of the intersections from Millville to B Street.”
In addition to the bump outs — which are curb extensions into the street on both sides at a pedestrian crossing that make the pedestrian crossing shorter ― at the seven intersections on Ross Avenue between Millville and South B, there will be thermoplastic pavement markings at the crosswalks and new crosswalk signs.
According to the grant application, these enhancements will increase pedestrian safety along with increased sight distance for side street traffic and reduce vehicular speeds on Ross Avenue.
Mayor Pat Moeller applauded Engle and his team for getting this grant award and said this project is the definition of “being responsive to the citizens that showed up and have legitimate concerns.”
By the numbers: Ross Avenue
158: Crashes from 2020-23
287: Speeding reports from 2020-23
25: Speed limit, miles per hour
2026: The year work will begin
$360K: The city’s share of the cost
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