Harrisburg residents shared opinions on a State Street project at a public meeting on Thursday night.
Proposed plans for a State Street construction project were on the table for discussion, literally, at a meeting with residents on Thursday.
Local residents roamed the Harrisburg School District Administration building, looking at draft proposals and sharing their opinions with city officials and representatives from Dawood Engineering, Inc., which provides services to the city.
“Their input matters,” said Percy Bullock, project manager for the city. “That’s why we stopped the whole project. This is their opportunity to speak.”
In April, Harrisburg began construction on the State Street corridor as part of a years-long planning process, started in 2019, to make the road safer for motorists and pedestrians. However, within a few weeks, the city issued a cease and desist order for the project after residents expressed concerns. At a City Council meeting, many specifically took issue with planned changes to parking and the addition of a bike lane, which some said would go unused.
Harrisburg decided to go back to the drawing board with its plans for the street and give community members the chance to voice their opinions. Thursday’s public meeting was the first of three set to take place this month.
At the meeting, residents were able to view and comment on a new draft design, as well as on specific aspects of the design, such as bicycle traffic features, parking and the size and number of traffic lanes.
The new draft design includes narrowing the current traffic lanes from 12 feet to about 10 feet in an effort to slow traffic, Bullock said. The current 12-foot lane size is the standard width of a highway lane, not that of a neighborhood street, he explained. The plan also would create a 3-foot buffer area between parking and traffic lanes to allow motorists more room when getting in and out of cars.
“Ultimately, it’s a safety project,” said Scott Bechard, senior transportation planner at Dawood Engineering. “We want to keep parking, but make the road safer for pedestrians.”
Other features of the draft plan include updated and additional signage, better-defined bus stops and school drop-off zones, bump-outs at certain crosswalks and updated traffic signals. It would also add “sharrows,” markings to signal to drivers that the road is shared by bicyclists.
Long-time State Street resident Arbie White-Davis was opposed to the initial plan for the roadway that she lives along. She didn’t like the project’s original design to restrict parking during certain high-traffic hours of the day in order to free up a lane for motorists. She also didn’t see the need for the planned protected bike lanes.
However, with the new draft proposal in front of her, she expressed satisfaction.
“I like the new plan,” White-Davis said. “I like that it makes it safe for me to get in and out of my vehicle.”
Council member Jocelyn Rawls was happy to see the new direction for the project, as well.
“It looks good to me,” she said. “I’m happy that parking will not be interrupted. I like how it encompasses everyone’s concerns.”
Several local bicycle riders also showed up to see how the new proposal integrated a multimodal aspect.
“I’m OK with the shared road,” said Dick Norford, a Capital Area Greenbelt Association board member. “I think they’re very wise to narrow the lanes. We are not dissatisfied with the proposal.”
The final proposed plan will need to be approved by PennDOT, as it is a state-owned road.
The next public meeting will take place on June 6 at the Kappa Omega fraternity house at 2020 State St. It will have a similar open-house-style format. The last meeting will be held again at the school district building on June 22, where officials will present a final draft proposal that incorporates public feedback, Bullock said.
“We’re not here to fight them,” said resident Jemir Isom. “We are here wanting them to hear us. I think our voices should be heard.”
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