City of Urbana engineers say their redesign of a stretch of Lincoln Avenue will create a win-win-win situation for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The Urbana City Council passed a resolution in support of the redesign Monday despite reservations about the traffic complications that may result.

The plans for Lincoln Avenue call for repainting Lincoln Avenue between Nevada Street and Pennsylvania Avenue so it has three lanes instead of the current four. The middle lane would serve as a bi-directional turning lane.

“This will make safer crossing for pedestrians because they will only have to cross three lanes,” said Bill Gray, Urbana public works director.

Other aspects of the redesign also target pedestrian interests. Raised medians may be added to crosswalks to provide a sanctuary while waiting for the far lane to clear. Replacement of stop signs with traffic signals at Nevada Street and Pennsylvania Avenue may improve traffic flow and create gaps for pedestrians.

Drivers stand to benefit from the signalization too, Gray said. Projections prepared by the Champaign Urbana Urbanized Transportation Study suggest that morning peak delays could be reduced from 28.2 seconds to 22.7 seconds and evening delays from 40.5 seconds to 29.4 seconds.

Bicyclists can look forward to 4-foot designated bicycle lanes on both sides of the street.

Justin Cajindos, junior in LAS, spoke to council members on behalf of the Illinois Student Senate’s Governmental Affairs Committee in support of the proposed designs.

“We are recommending that the Student Senate give this a vote of confidence at their meeting next Wednesday,” Cajindos said.

Cajindos said his committee was concerned whether bus stops would be reduced along the corridor in question, and whether improvements would include turnouts for buses to get out of the way of motorists when stopping.

“It’s important to reduce bus traffic and bus conflicts in general,” Cajindos said.

He urged the Urbana City Council to work with the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit District and the University to make sure plans resulted in safer conditions.

MTD Managing Director Bill Volk, who was in attendance, said he was agreeable to reducing bus traffic on Lincoln Avenue. He questioned the necessity of bus turnouts.

“Cars stopping behind buses doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Volk said. “It creates more gaps for pedestrians.”

Volk and the Governmental Affairs Committee are scheduled to meet Tuesday for further discussions.