- Jamestown City Council President Greg Rabb reviews proposed changes to the traffic lanes on the Third Street Bridge during the council’s Aug. 24 work session.
JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council will be hosting a public hearing Monday, Aug. 31, to get feedback on a proposed plan to redraw the traffic lanes on the Third Street Bridge.
According to Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, the State Department of Transportation wants to reduce the traffic lanes from four to just two, with a center median also added. In addition, there would be two new bicycle lanes added.
Teresi said that the proposed change is long overdue, considering that when the bridge was taken over by the state and reconstructed in 1986, residents and city officials had a hard time understanding why the bridge was four lanes.
“We have about a 900-foot drag strip in the heart of downtown Jamestown,” Teresi said. “Don’t tell me that we haven’t all witnessed incidents where people are coming from one direction or the other on Third Street and say, ‘I’ve got to get around that car in front of me and I’ve got 900 feet to do it’ and speeds can be as high as 45 to 50 miles an hour on the bridge.”
Teresi said recently, when the State DOT began repairing curbing on the bridge, it was brought to their attention that it may be safer to realign the traffic pattern on the bridge, eliminating two of the lanes…
“Thet’ve worked with us and headed our calls, there have been several incarnations of the plan to return that to two lanes of traffic, with a turning lane and the possibility of bike lanes on the bridge and to do it in a way that transitioned, such that on neither side of the bridge do we have to lose any curb-side parking.”
Teresi says the final proposed plan will be presented during the public hearing on Monday. If there is no large outcry against the plan, it’s likely the city council will sign off on it that same night, giving the state permission to move forward so that the work can be scheduled As soon as possible.
The public hearing will be held in Jamestown City Council chambers at 6:30 p.m. Monday, which is located on the second floor of city hall.
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