The Bunts Road Rehab project is causing a stir among some Lakewood residents due to safety concerns. The project involves building a 10-foot-wide path for bikes and pedestrians along the road.
In Lakewood, yard signs expressing dissatisfaction with the planned shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians on Bunts Road are a common sight. Some residents are worried about the safety implications of this project.
According to the city of Lakewood, the Bunts Road Rehab project stretches from Lakewood Heights Boulevard to Clifton Boulevard.
City officials state that the aim of the project is to enhance safety and convenience for all road users, including drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. The proposed improvements will tackle issues such as worn-out pavement, curbs, and sidewalks, as well as address pedestrian crossing distances, Clean Water Lakewood initiatives, requirements from sewer improvements under the Consent Decree, aging water mains, surface drainage problems, streetlighting, bike lanes, old signage, and other related aspects.
The website also says, “Installation of the shared-use path provides bicyclists and pedestrians a safe and comfortable infrastructure to provide year-round access to Lakewood High School, parks, local amenities, resources, and the regional network.”
Bunts Rd. resident Shannon Mortland told 3News that she and many of her neighbors dislike how the 10-foot shared-use path will shrink tree lawns and kill trees.
“Most of us will lose our trees, and they say they’re going to replant trees but they’ll be very tiny trees that won’t give us shade for years or even a decade,” she lamented.
Mortland also explained why she believes the path will create dangerous situations.
“So if somebody is on a fast-moving bicycle, they have to cross 116 driveways,” she said. “Every few seconds there’s a driveway. So that’s really dangerous as people are pulling in and out of their driveways, they’re pulling in and out of the gas stations, in and out of the high school, the church at the end of the street. There’s just got to be a better space for it on a quieter neighborhood street.”
She concluded that she won’t stop the fight to end the project.
“We have to have hope. I know they say you can’t fight city hall but we’re certainly going to try and we’re going to continue trying. We can’t stop now,” she expressed. “On a street as busy and crowded as Bunts is already. It’s just the wrong spot for it. I’m not opposed to it. Just find the right spot for it. It feels rushed at this point. It just doesn’t make sense on Bunts Rd.”
3News asked Lakewood Councilwoman Angelina Hamilton Steiner for her stance on the residents against the plan and on the city of Lakewood saying it’s too late to change plans, to which she responded:
“I do not view what the residents doing as complaining but see it through the lens of advocacy and advocating for their interests as residents and their lived experience of Bunts Road residents. They are residents that have an experience of living on this road and see the foot/pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle traffic daily. I respect their lived experience and their self-advocacy. The plan has gone through the approval process and is now nearing stage three (according to the City of Lakewood website for the project). I cannot speak and say for certain whether it’s too late to change plans (revert to unbuffered bicycle lanes). The alternative to not being able to change plans would be in finding common ground to reinstall faith and confidence in processes and procedures and improve citizen engagement.”
3News requested an interview Tuesday with a member of the city of Lakewood’s administration, but no one was available for comment.
