Lisa Fink speaks before the Wilkes-Barre Traffic Committee during a meeting in City Hall on Thursday.
Hannah Simerson | Times Leader
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WILKES-BARRE — In a relatively quiet meeting on Thursday morning, the Wilkes-Barre City Traffic Committee heard about several driving hazards on Wilkes-Barre streets from a concerned citizen.
Lisa Fink brought the committee’s attention to a missing “No Parking” sign on the corner of Old River Road and New Elizabeth Street that has led to cars parking too close to the corner, thus blocking incoming traffic from traveling through.
“There’s only enough room for two cars there — one going in and one going out. Cars parking there cause a big problem that’s bad for pedestrians,” Fink said.
According to her, the signs, which are currently just posts, have been missing for years. The problems their absence cause have only proceeded to worsen, she said.
“Turning in from Old River Road to New Elizabeth Street and vice versa is already a hazard without cars parking close to where other cars must turn into, and it’s even more so now that a school bus comes off Carey Avenue and needs to turn onto New Elizabeth Street.”
Fink also brought attention to the another missing “No Parking” sign on the corner of Charles and Conwell Streets that is causing a similar issue, especially for school busses.
Additionally, turning off of Elizabeth Street onto Carey Avenue poses a safety risk as bushes block the view of oncoming traffic, Fink said.
“There’s a lot of traffic on that street and it’s fast traffic, so if you can’t see more than 20 feet to the left because the bushes are taking away visibility and you have to go out onto the street, it’s dangerous.”
Also during the meeting, the committee tabled two agenda items to gather more details, including a request from the Wright Center for a crosswalk across North Pennsylvania Avenue from the center to the parking lot across the street and a stop sign request for the Stanton Street and Grove Street intersection to assist a school crossing guard.
According to Traffic Committee Chairman William Harris, the committee will seek further clarification for the Wright Center request via an engineering plan detailing how pedestrians will safely cross the four lanes of traffic on that road.
The committee also approved work orders to install:
• A “No Parking to Corner” sign on the telephone pole at the end of Penn Street intersecting with Worrall Street and to paint the curb yellow between the stop sign and telephone pole.
• “No Parking to Corner” signs and paint the curbs yellow on both sides of New Hancock Street off Chapel Street.
• A “No Parking to Corner” sign and paint the curb yellow on Johnson Street 20 feet from the intersection of North Washington Street towards North Main Street.
• “Ambulance Parking Only” signs at 169 North Pennsylvania Ave. at the Wright Center.
• A traffic mirror at the intersection of Chester Street, East Hollenback Avenue and North Pennsylvania Avenue
• A traffic mirror at the intersection of Smith and Blackman Streets.