Martinsville staff will present their plan to improve traffic and pedestrian flow throughout Martinsville’s Uptown District at the city council’s Tuesday regular session at the Municipal Building.
The plan is the most recent in the city’s efforts to make the Uptown District more pedestrian friendly by slowing down traffic through the area.
The idea came from an Uptown Survey that was distributed in 2023. Survey respondents identified the need for a more pedestrian-friendly Uptown.
City officials tried to address speeding through the area but felt their efforts needed more planning.
“Previous attempts to address this issue have failed,” reads a portion of Tuesday evening’s agenda.
In April Martinsville officials replaced stop lights with stop signs at the intersections of Moss and Church streets, Walnut and Church streets, Main and Bridge streets, Church and Bridge streets, and Broad and Church streets.
At the time, officials felt the stop signs would force motorists to lower their speeds in ways stop lights couldn’t. Officials referred to it as a “speed calming” effect.
“What we’ve seen … people try to beat the green lights coming down Church, by the time you hit Uptown Pinball people are at 50 miles an hour,” council member Aaron Rawls said in April.
Not all residents were convinced.
“I went through the city today and I hated the stop signs,” Rhonda Mills posted on Martinsville’s Facebook page back in April. “I always travel at the speed limit with the stop lights in place. And slow down at every intersection. This is really unnecessary. Whose idea was this? I think having to stop at every block is going to deter traffic and shopping uptown.”
Public Works Director Greg Maggard said the city turned off the stop lights on April 1. Before the month ended, the lights were back on.
City Manager Aretha Ferrell Benavides said that, among other concerns, not all motorists stopped at signs.
“If we are going to do this, we are going to roll it out a little at a time,” Ferrell Benavides said in April.
On Nov. 13, the city hosted a public meeting focused on Uptown pedestrian safety and the Traffic Calming Proposal is the most recent update.
The proposal moves away from emphasizing stop signs and instead focuses on physical changes to the streets. These include raised crosswalks which act almost like speedbumps.
“The installation of raised pedestrian crosswalks at mid-block crossings has been proven to provide increased visibility and safety for pedestrians,” reads information from city staff. “Additionally, the elevated crosswalks provide a ‘speed bump’ effect in these areas, naturally slowing traffic.”
City councilors will decide whether or not to pursue projects suggested in the plan. The regular session is open to the public.
