Truck warnings discussed at crosswalk public meeting

The March 21 community awareness meeting for the Washington Avenue Crosswalk Project was sparsely attended by downtown business owners but those who did attend left better prepared for the 8–12-week construction period, and a heads-up was issued for truck traffic. City Manager Jason Weeks opened the meeting and City staff and TxDOT contractor Gary Fuqua of Fuqua Construction were present to answer questions.

Median work begins Sunday night

Thanks to successful negotiations by the City, construction will take place Sunday through Friday, from 7 p.m. – 7 a.m., beginning Sunday evening, March 27.

During construction hours, parking on Washington Avenue between LaSalle Street and Railroad Street will be blocked off with cones but during the day, traffic flow and parking will resume as normal. The construction area will be enclosed in fencing.

The one exception is that left turns on to Farquhar by westbound Washington Avenue traffic will be prohibited.

Traffic light timing

Phase 1 consists of constructing the 4-foot-wide raised median down Washington between Farquhar and LaSalle Street followed by Phase 2, the crosswalk and raised pedestrian island. The painted crosswalk will be accompanied by pedestrian crossing signage, but Fuqua clarified there is no flashing signage.

Responding to a question about back up of eastbound traffic making a left turn onto LaSalle, Utilities Director Jennifer Reyna advised that TxDOT will adjust the timing of the traffic lights at Washington and LaSalle to allow more cars to go through which should alleviate backup of vehicles.

Downtown parking

Downtown parking was a concern for one business owner who asked Weeks to consider installing additional lighting, trimming shrubs and providing additional patrol presence behind the businesses on the north side of Washington but it was unclear who owned those properties.

Weeks advised that the best use of the Mance Lipscomb Park property has been discussed. That and other ways to increase parking in the area will be considered during the budget process.

Weeks said, “There are other things we’re going to be looking at doing – wayfinding signage, downtown signage – so that when people arrive in town they will know where businesses are located, where parking is located. We’ll be pushing that out via social media, website and the other avenues of communication we have so that when people come here, they’ll already know the traffic flow and where to park. We’ll be proactive on pushing that out once this (project) gets done.”

Truck traffic warning

Mayor Bert Miller said, “I suggest we take this opportunity to get the word out to truckers that we have a truck route that they need to use. They’re going to find out real quick that they’re not going to be able to make this turn if they’re headed east. This is a good reason for those not stopping in Navasota for a delivery to use the truck route.”

Councilman Josh Fultz suggested increasing ticketing of violators and Fuqua recommended the use of a message board, at least during the construction period.