From the Newton Street Community Group:
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Thank you all for your incredible support and participation! Yesterday’s Traffic Commission meeting had a great turnout — many neighbors attended and spoke about our shared concerns regarding the Triangle Intersection and speeding on Newton Street.
Key Takeaways:
- The City’s proposals to move the stop sign, add a yield sign on 242nd, and paint new lines were not approved.
- Instead, the City will study traffic speeds on Newton Street to better understand how fast and how many cars are using the route.
- They discussed adding a bike lane, but said the lack of space limits that option. We encouraged them to keep exploring ways to make routes to school safer.
- The City agreed to look into trimming overgrown trees at the pocket park to improve visibility on Newton Street of Walnut Street, and a sign to announce Walnut St. “Road Ahead”
- Regarding speed bumps, the City engineers declined the idea, stating that they are not fire truck–friendly. We will continue to investigate speed cushions as a more viable option.
- The roundabout option was rejected because the clearance needed is 110–120 feet from the property line, though we plan to investigate this further.
- The police department will collect more data on traffic and speed since no current data was available. We have also asked the engineers to share the data collected in September for our records and for their review.
Next Steps:
We’ll follow up on:
- Results of the new traffic and speed studies
- Review of signage on Vista Montaña and Hawthorne to reduce cut-through traffic
- Input from the Fire Department on speed cushions vs. speed bumps
- Exploring the idea of making both lanes on Newton Street full-use bike lanes
- Tree trimming at the pocket park and a sign to announce Walnut St. to Newton drivers
Although not all proposals were approved, the City is now focusing on gathering real data and prioritizing safety — an important step forward thanks to our community’s strong participation and unified voice.