About two dozen, much needed new trees have been planted in the Park Terrace/Russ Street roundabout, and they’re not super scrawny ones either. These could actually survive if/when people crash vehicles into them.
Besides somewhat restoring the character of this area to what it was before the Aetna Viaduct gutted it, trees serve a purpose in road design.
Trees narrow a driver’s field of vision, which for most people, equates to slowing down. This, combined with the narrower lanes, curving road, and need to slow for yielding, means that drivers may begin to act like they are guests in a residential area with a park and elementary school.
Those familiar with the previous road design of the Park Terrace/Sigourney/Russ intersection will remember that there was a strange wide open island constantly littered with debris from car wrecks. The lanes were overly wide, allowing drivers to easily reach speeds not acceptable for residential neighborhoods.
With the proximity to the highway, it’s extra necessary to tell drivers to slow down. Having police sit in an intersection idling their vehicles is one way, but it’s at the bottom of my list: expensive, ineffective, and another source of tailpipe emissions. Closing this segment of Park Terrace permanently would be my preferred solution, but the next best thing is this dramatic reconstruction with ample street trees.
