Uhler Ave to Towpath Trail is deadly. Officials are concerned.

• Cars go 45 mph where we walk and bike.
• We are shut out from 75 miles of trails.
• 15 concrete barriers could save a life.

Memorial Parkway Now: Deadly

Memorial Parkway In The Future: Safe

Memorial Parkway: A Demolition Derby for Human Bodies

24,892 people live in North Hill. Most of us don’t use the Towpath Trail because we cannot safely reach it. Those of us that use the trail put our lives at risk. We need access to jobs, shopping, and green space via the Towpath Trail.

The 750-foot trek from the intersection to the park is deadly. To get to the Towpath Trail from North Hill, you take Uhler Ave to Memorial Parkway. Drivers routinely exceed the posted speed limit of 35 mph. They cross the painted lines because paint doesn’t stop 4,000 pounds of metal. This stretch is more dangerous than most of North Hill combined. Memorial has killed as recently as 2020 (Report Number T0019107).

Just 750 feet of concrete could save lives. Concrete barriers are the easiest, cheapest way to make Memorial Parkway safe enough to use without a car. The far lane is already striped off and not in active use. All Akron needs to do is place barriers between Uhler Ave and Hickory Street. Memorial Parkway was named in memory of three people who died due to unsafe road design. It does their memories a disservice to wait around for the next preventable loss of life on the very same street.

The above letter was published in the Akron Beacon-Journal.

You may view our detailed proposal here.

Why Memorial Kills

• Drivers routinely exceed the posted speed limit of 35 mph.
• 35 mph is ludicrous for these road conditions. 25 mph is the maximum speed drivers should go on this road.
• People drive faster at the bottom of hills. This area is at the valley of two hills.
• The road curves. It is a semi-blind turn. Westbound drivers enter the turn during their descent into the valley.
• The Towpath Trail is easily 10 times safer than anywhere in the surrounding area. Cyclists want to get downtown or to Merriman Valley. Walkers want to have a scenic stroll. They risk this unsafe road to access a much safer trail with no cars.
• I believe over 10,000 cars travel this road per day. I saw the stat via ODOT but don’t have time to confirm.
• Uhler Ave enters the demolition derby at the bottom of the hill where it’s most dangerous.
• Uhler is the safest way for bikers and walkers to visit the Towpath Trail from North Hill. So cyclists enter the derby at the height of its danger.
• Uhler’s design was changed. Between 1994 and 2003 it was changed from a “Y” merger intersection into a “J” on-ramp intersection. This change may have had good reasons, but seems to have made things deadlier for drivers and cyclists around Uhler.
• The only thing keeping cars and trucks out of the de facto bike lane and sidewalk is a striped off lane. It’s a suggestion which drivers routinely violate. I have ample video proof I hope to share.

An Identity Crisis

Memorial provides two contradictory services: access to the Towpath Trail, and a high-speed avenue between North Hill and Highland Square. Without a safety retrofit, Memorial Parkway cannot do both of its jobs. Residents of North Hill are waiting around for the next deadly car crash.

Locking cycling, hiking, and dog facilities behind a 35 mph road is like putting a playground behind a gun range.

AMATS Acknowledges the Danger

It’s not just us. The Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) has called this section of Memorial Parkway a “high-injury” street. Its unsafe design has contributed to 64 crashes and 5 fatal or serious injury crashes from 2017-2021. In 2020, there was a head-on collision at this exact location. AMATS partially attributes “negotiating a curve” to the death caused by this crash. An 80 year old woman and a 29 year old man collided. Odds are that the woman died, but we can’t confirm this.

AMATS recommends a $2.75 million roundabout near this location, at Memorial and Hickory. This would certainly help calm drivers and make things safer, but we have a much simpler, cheaper solution that can be done in ONE DAY.

Concrete Barriers: Make It Safe Before We Make It Safer

In an ironic twist, the above photo shows Portable Concrete Barriers… on Memorial Parkway. It can be done! In this case, they were used to ensure the safety of gas workers (I believe Enbridge). The gas company knew what we’re all thinking - you’d have to have a death wish to set foot on Memorial.

Roundabounts take a long time to build. Cars are getting larger and deadlier every year. Drivers are getting more distracted by the day. Concrete barriers are hunks of concrete. Akron has a demonstrated ability to move around chunks of concrete when it feels like it. We don’t need to waste time with studies. We don’t need to hunker down in committees and decide if it’s good to have people die or not. The solution is right here, and it’s cheap. To save lives of Akronites…

Concrete Barriers on Memorial

Please make this a reality and join our movement.