OTOC Works with Community to Improve Traffic Safety
By Elle Love
Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) are working with local community members to improve pedestrian and motor vehicle safety in the N. 30th and Kansas Ave. intersection. The OTOC leadership team met with members of the Church of the Resurrection on Feb. 23 to discuss the concerns over the intersection near the southwest corner of Miller Park. Their major safety concerns stem from a troublesome intersection and convoluted automotive arteries in areas with high pedestrian traffic:
North 30th St., a federally designated highway (US75 also called the North Freeway), has high-level traffic including a large volume of trucks.
The North Freeway at Sorenson Blvd. connects to I-680 to the north with no left turning lanes.
North 30th Street has four connecting streets that do not line up: Kansas Avenue and Belvedere Boulevard from the west and from the east Miller Park Drive and Kansas Avenue.
“Out of these side streets, Belvedere Blvd. is probably the busiest because of the number of people living in the neighborhood [who] come down to get on 30th St. to head south,” said Clyde Anderson, member of OTOC’s environmental & sustainability action team. Traffic going south on 30th St. is unrestricted except for the 35 mph speed limit. There are no marked crosswalks to indicate where pedestrians can safely cross. Also, in this area because it is permissible to have very narrow distances between the street and the buildings , it becomes impassable when snow covers the curbs.
Anderson and OTOC met with Vision Zero Coordinator Jeff Sobczyk and City of Omaha Traffic Engineer Jeff Riesselman to research how these issues affect residents and drivers alike. “An analysis of five years of accident history by Jeff Sobczyk, the City’s new Vision Zero Coordinator, revealed that there have been frequent motor vehicle accidents at or near this intersection including one fatality,” wrote Anderson in an email. OTOC organized a North Omaha Intersection Safety Study Team to work with City officials from Public Works, the Parks and Recreation department, and Mode Shift Omaha to implement three short-term solutions to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety on North 30th Street close to Miller Park.
One of the three short-term goals include working with the Omaha Public Works Department to install signs and blockades to discourage pedestrians from crossing the N. 30th St intersection and advise them to walk north and cross at the signal at Curtis Ave.
Anderson said the second short term goal is for the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department and Public Works to make Miller Park Drive a one-way street to the northeast away from the busy N. 30th US75 Highway to alleviate motor vehicle crashes in the area. This policy will be implemented this winter with less traffic activity. OTOC’s lead organizer Sarah Keeney said that the actions of the North Omaha Intersection Study Safety Team including the signage and the rerouting of Miller Park traffic are considered pretty significant wins.
Keeney said OTOC worked to negotiate with the City of Omaha and community leaders to find practical solutions to address community issues.
“It’s a really good example to how we work to build what we call ‘relational power.’” Keeney said. “We didn’t go to the Public Works office and demand they do something about this. We sat down and met with them, and we said, ‘What could be the possibilities here? What could be feasible and what isn’t?’”
The North Omaha Intersection Safety Study Team collaborated with the Omaha Police Department and the Parks and Recreation department to provide an educational program for children and adults to learn safer routes to cross to and from Miller Park. “This idea came from the Miller Park Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association of teaching children, and even their parents, on what are the safe ways to cross to and from Miller Park. So we enlisted the help of the Omaha Police Department to try to set up some training as part of their summer camp program and pool activities,” Anderson said.
The team has faced a few setbacks due to the pandemic but will start implementing new strategies for next summer. For the Fall, they may meet with neighboring schools like Nelson Mandela Elementary to educate children about pedestrian safety.
“I think the members of our team, especially those who have been pretty regular and participating in our Zoom meetings and calls so far have been satisfied with the progress that we’ve made,” Anderson said. “It’s been difficult because everybody has been chomping on time and resource challenges and so, summer was over before we could get these training opportunities pulled off.”
