If you’ve been to our website a few times, you’re already familiar with US Route 62 through Hamburg, New York: a photo of its new roundabouts graces the top of our website on a rotating basis.
Now you can help this street win the People’s Choice Award, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the US Chamber of Commerce.
Route 62 runs through the heart of Hamburg’s downtown, lined with shops and restaurants. It is also a major truck route. After undergoing a series of charrettes with Coalition friend Dan Burden, walkability, increased safety, traffic calming measures, additional gathering places, and promotion of local business were identified as top priorities for the corridor. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the residents of Hamburg moved ahead with their “Community Design Alternative,” which embodies the Complete Streets approach, over a more conventional street widening.
To implement the Complete Streets vision, NYSDOT replaced six traffic signals with four modern roundabouts and strategically narrowed sections of the road via a road diet. Mid-block pedestrian crossings and bulb-outs now make crossing the street quicker and safer, and new lighting, landscaping, and street furniture make walking downtown more enjoyable.
The project has had amazing results. Crashes dramatically decreased in the corridor after only six months of operation. Congestion has been minimized. And the village can take pride in knowing that they shaped this multimodal, community-focused design.
As Dan puts it, “it is time that a project focused on community building makes it to the very top.”
Online voting continues through October 18.