Public Hearing for 5th Ward Announced

Press Release:

Attention 5th Ward Constituents! There will be a public hearing addressing concerns related to safety/traffic situations in the
Watson/Thorpe area. We encourage residents to attend the public hearing to voice their opinions when Council approves
moving this issue to the next step. The public hearing will be held on Monday, November 26th at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall,
Second Floor, Council Board Room. For detailed information please see below:

Following the Council Meeting on September 10, 2018 which once again raised concerns for safety at the intersection of
Watson and Thorpe Street Bureau of Maintenance Superintendent Ray Tourt, Director of Public Works Matt Worth and
Police Chief, Shawn Heubusch met to discuss possible solutions. The following items were discussed;

– Watson Street runs east and west between Evans Street and Jackson Street with no parking on the southside of the street
due to the narrow nature of the street.
– Watson Street has 32 ft ROW with 21ft of pavement and for the most part 4 ft sidewalks on both sides of the road. This
does cause a problem for sign posting where we are supposed to provide a 2 ft clear edge from the road. If a stop sign
is to be posted (30”) it would have to posted in the middle of the sidewalk without the ability to provide a minimum of
36” clear sidewalk. There is No Parking on Northside of street.
– Thorpe Street runs north and south between Maple Street and Watson Street with a short extension running north of
Watson Street which dead ends, there is no parking on either side of Thorpe Street due to inadequate space for parking
on either side.
– The specific request was to place a Stop Sign on Watson Street headed eastbound at the intersection of Thorpe Street.
– A traffic study was completed in the area, this study did not warrant a Stop Sign or other traffic control device.
– There is insufficient space on Watson Street at the intersection of Thorpe Street to erect a proper Stop Sign.
– The sightlines coming off Thorpe Street onto Watson Street to the north are severely limited due to land incursions,
structures and the curve of Watson Street.
– Thorpe Street has a 20ft ROW with a pavement from 20 ft to 21 ft and no sidewalks. Thorpe Street has No Parking on
either side.
The following is recommended to address community concerns and change the traffic pattern in the area;
– Turn Thorpe Street between Watson Street and Maple Street into a One-Way street with the direction of travel being
southbound only.
– Add permissive parking on the west side of Thorpe Street between Watson Street and Maple Street.
– Based on this information and the alignment needed for One-Way signage, they can be squeezed in on Thorpe Street at
Watson without encroaching the sidewalks.
– The portion of Thorpe Street North of Watson Street would have to remain two way with a STOP control SB and parking
ban on both sides.

This solution relieves the sightline issues at the Watson and Thorpe Streets intersection as there will be no northbound traffic
at that intersection. This solution also allows for residents to have some on-street parking on Thorpe Street that they currently
do not have. This parking is subject to the City of Batavia Parking Regulations regarding overnight parking restrictions.

Kathy Briggs
5th Ward Councilperson