The Wayne Avenue corridor is trending in a nice direction right now. New businesses are popping up, including the microbrewery Branch and Bone. It’s even becoming a bit of a coffee shop corridor anchored by Ghostlight to the south and Press to the north with two new ones, Wholly Grounds and Rezas, in between. There is a great crop of existing businesses that align the corridor including South Park Tavern, Pizza Factory, Wheat Penny, Crafted and Cured, Belle of Dayton and the International Grocery Halal Market.
But let’s face it, Wayne Avenue is not an enjoyable experience to walk, bike, or even drive. The lanes are tight and narrow. Cars exceed speeds of 35 mph. The sidewalks are directly adjacent to the speeding cars on the roadway with no tree lawn buffer in between. There are a number of instances where light and sign poles are placed in the middle of the sidewalk.
That’s all too bad because the Wayne Avenue corridor, particularly north of Wyoming Street, has the potential to be a great and walkable neighborhood business district for the residents of South Park, Walnut Hills, and Twin Towers. Much of the building stock along the corridor is urban, dense, and built at a pedestrian friendly scale, all of which are desirable for a great business district. The issue of the corridor is roadway design and the pedestrian experience.
Currently Wayne Avenue acts as a four lane (two thru lanes each way) commuter route for residents in southeast Dayton into downtown. It also provides access to US-35. Between the Wyoming Street intersection and US-35, the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) count is 25,500 vehicles per day (MVRPC, 2014), which is relatively high.
However, north of US-35 entering the Oregon district, the AADT falls off drastically at 10,500 vehicles per day (MVRPC, 2011). In order to enhance the corridor as a walkable business district, reducing travel lanes from four (4) vehicular thru lanes to two (2) thru lanes and a center turn lane should be considered.
The stretch of Wayne north of US-35 to Fifth Street in the Oregon District should be a no brainer. The City has already begun to implement pedestrian and cycling improvements. In 2018, bike lanes were installed connecting Fifth Street to Fourth Street. In 2017, on-street parking was permitted between Fifth and Jones Streets.
The on-street parking should be further formalized and made permanent through the addition of bump-outs at key intersections. A bump-out is an expansion of the curb at the intersection further into the street. Ideal locations for this improvement would be at the Jones/ Bainbridge intersection, as well at the Fifth Street intersection near the Dublin Pub.
While a travel lane in each direction would be lost permanently, benefits for pedestrians would be markedly improved. The urban form of the Oregon District would begin to transition south. The on-street parking would be permanent, calming traffic and creating a larger and more comfortable buffer between pedestrians and vehicular traffic, as well as creating the addition of reliable parking for businesses along this corridor. Bump-outs would also reduce the distance between curbs, which allows for a shorter and safer crossing for pedestrians at intersections.
A similar travel lane reduction, commonly referred to as a road diet, south of US-35 down to Wyoming Avenue would be much more bold and transformational. Reducing the current mix of four travels lanes to two travel lanes and a center turn lane would allow for a number of improvements. These include calmer traffic speeds, wider sidewalks and café style seating, an improved pedestrian experience, removal of left turning vehicles from the through lane, and improved flow and road efficiency.
Enhancing the pedestrian experience is vital for a thriving neighborhood business district. It’s also important to note the building stock along the corridor was built at a pedestrian scale rather than an auto-centric scale with limited building setbacks and parking located in the rear if at all. In 2018, the City adopted its 2040 Transportation Plan which recommended future roadway improvements to address the adjacent built environment as opposed to simply focusing on moving vehicular traffic.
If the built environment is built at a more dense and walkable scale, as is on this corridor, then the roadway and right-of-way design should reflect that. This also coincides with the City’s Livable Streets policy that says streets should be contextually designed for all users and modes—including pedestrians and cyclists, not just vehicles.
However, given the existing traffic load and implications, a transformation on this stretch of Wayne would require much more study and community input. But there is existing precedence for removing travel lane capacity on a heavily trafficked road and making conditions safer for cyclists and pedestrians as seen on Brown Street. The thought there was to improve pedestrian conditions on Brown and allow Main Street to be the vehicular thoroughfare.
The counterargument for doing a Wayne Avenue road diet on this stretch of the corridor is there is not a parallel corridor to divert vehicular traffic to as there was with Main and Brown. However, the trade-offs between an improved quality of life for existing residents and businesses currently along the corridor and the convenience of vehicular traffic would ultimately need to be weighed by the community.
The Wayne Avenue corridor has the bones and building stock to be the next great neighborhood business district in Dayton. It just needs the pedestrian-oriented components to reach its full potential.
Jon White is a City Planner for the City of Dayton. You can follow him on Twitter at jonwhite17
I’m so glad someone is thinking about this and trying to spark some thoughts & conversation. I hope this is the 1st step towards a community collaborating instead of debating.
I call the area the coffee & distillery district, I’ve toyed with the beverage brewery district, the brewed beverage district, the coffee corridor, the coffee district, the brewery district. All seem to work.
I think these are good assessments of the current walkability. I would add lighting at dusk & night time is poor and due to the buildings are mostly 2 story there is a lot of shadows. I’m not sure what to call it other than driver visibility of the sidewalks, it’s scary to not be able to see pedestrians well when you pull up to a stop, I know it must be alarming for the pedestrians., honestly there is a safety concern there. Wayne Ave seems to act as a wind tunnel, trash, leaves, debris are eyesores & obstacles at different points along the way. There are business and community efforts for clean up and it’s appreciated but more is needed. The bus stops are rather dismal and don’t really highlight the uniqueness of the area or the historic value.
Changing to a two lane road from 2nd St to 35 is being explored somewhat, I think evening or business hours parking street parking is being used but I think it adds to driver confusion and if signage is an indicator it’s increased accidents between parked cars & moving cars by Oregon Trails Grooming. From 35 to Wyoming the traffic volume may be too heavy for lane reduction but a turn arrow would certainly move traffic more efficiently when turning from Wayne onto Keowee/Adams, although it’s not necessary except during peak traffic hours. This area of Wayne would definitely benefit from sidewalk improvement. Curb appeal in many parking areas is less than, add some signage, murals, plants, etc. I do think that parking is available but not utilized well. Perhaps relationships between businesses could be enhanced. For example overflow evening parking for Wheat Penny and Crafted & Cured at Eastway. Farther along Wayne signage for available parking or park & walk parking would help business patrons navigate an area they may not be familiar with and ease neighborhood & resident burden. Again relationships between businesses. Halal International Market has a very nice gated parking lot that could be utilized by patrons of other businesses, it sits mostly empty, a fee paid to the business owner for access and upkeep may be long term beneficial to all . A private owner of two not in use buildings has 10-12 spaces not being used. Family Dollars lot appears to have only 8 spaces, it’s a parking aisle, I would wonder if the layout could be improved. The Eagles and the other market have a lot of parking space that isn’t really being used, better communication and networking could be beneficial to all. Also wondered if the street parking adjacent to the businesses would work better as angled parking instead of bumper to bumper? I of course don’t know how that would impact travel for neighborhood residents. Just pondering. I know the trend for parking is utilizing current space and not creating super lots but I’m not sure there is actually enough current space.
Regardless of opinions this is a developing area and worth keeping an eye on. -Neighborhood Resident
Thank you for your remarks! Some great comments and points.
I’m with you. Let’s do it!
Your proposal for Fifth to 35 is as you say a no-brainer. What about an incremental approach: continuing the road diet from 35 WB to Keowee. While there isn’t a lot right there that’s pedestrian oriented (one side is in exit ramp and a gas station), it would bridge the 35 divide and bring pedestrian scale development to South Park’s doorstep. Once it’s right there, more people can envision it pushing southward and would be more likely to support it.
You’re correct, the road diet would have to be done in a phases beginning between Jones Street and 5th Street north of US-35 as the first phase. I think the brief stretch between Keowee and US-35 could also be done without much disruption as long as turn lanes were available for the US-35 on-ramps. Travel lane removal south of Keowee down to Wyoming it gets trickier given the amount of traffic it current has. A traffic study and community input would be required.
Fifth to 35 as you say is a no-brainer. What about taking an incremental approach with a 35 to Keowee road diet? That bridges the 35 divide, brings pedestrian scale redevelopment to South Park’s doorstep, and may incline more people to envision and support the extension of it southward.
Thank you thank you. There were 2 grants to do this for Wayne between
5th and 35 in 2013 but that disappeared. The major reroute could be Keowee. It goes to 3rd St. as does Wayne.
I talked to the engineer regarding the 2 grants that they submitted the plans to the city twice and never received an answer so they 9nly took lights to Van Buren. We’ve had five accidents in this block but the city said they couldn’t do anything.
Whatever I can do to help I will..
The City engineers submit projects to MVRPC to be chosen for transportation grants. I guess the projects were not chosen by MVRPC. Many jurisdictions in the area submit projects each year and MVRPC and they can;t choose the all..
AIA Dayton worked with the South Park neighborhood and the CIty about 15 years ago to develop some master planning and envisioning for the neighborhood. A major component of this was proposing a Wayne Avenue road diet and enhanced improvements on Thiebold Street for parking.
I really like this idea. There will be push-back from commuters who drive this route, but something like this was done in 2017 on Shroyer Ave in Oakwood and it seems to have worked. One of the biggest benefits to this might be reduced speed of travel for the cars on Wayne Avenue. The police were using Esther Price’s parking lot to watch for speeders a few years ago but that brought negative publicity to the company, so it stopped. I travel this road frequently and people often drive 45-50 mph instead of the posted 35 mph, especially coming down the hill from Wilmington to Wyoming. Slower traffic from Wyoming on south might force drivers to slow down coming down the hill. Having cars traveling that fast just a few feet from you while walking along Wayne is uncomfortable for most of us.
Great Idea, Jon. Keep up the good work and let us know what we can do to help urge the city to implement more pedestrian friendly streets/neighborhoods!
I know I am late to this thread, but hope it is not too late to comment. I live on Wayne Avenue just south of Wyoming–so the proposed improvements you are discussing leave our section from Wyoming to Waldo out of the picture. However, in 2024 the city/ODOT will be widening this stretch of Wayne Avenue to add left turn lanes, which are very much needed. As many have pointed out, all stretches of Wayne Avenue are dangerous for residents and businesses. I have witnessed many accidents due to speeding and inattention in front of Kroger, Young children and older folks trying to cross Wayne Avenue are putting themselves in a very dangerous situation. We have been told widening will make our street safer, but I only see more speeding with wider lanes and smoother surfaces. Is there any way we can be involved in discussions with the city to try some innovative approaches on our stretch?