I went to Marda Loop today, wow! I think someone else said this recently on here - it truly is approaching Kensington levels of activity. So many shops, cafes and retail, on and off the main street. The recent condo mid-rises are very notable, creating an entirely different vibe - a truly urban one. Great to see all the new projects like this one down 33rd and 14th Street as well.
Only one problem: while the development has been booming for decades, the transportation system is unbelievably out-of-touch for Marda Loop's new dense and increasingly pedestrian-orientation.
- Purely suburban style is everywhere
- narrow/closed sidewalks
- few/zero crosswalks
- few stop signs or impediments to maximize vehicle speeds
- no pedestrian bump outs
- super long light cycles,
- high-speed advanced greens
- all signals are 'beg buttons' and won't change unless you press them
In my 2 hours today wandering around I saw 3 near collisions of vehicles whipping around corners (because there are no traffic controls added from the era when a road was a sleepy side street), big trucks/SUVs bombing down 33rd and 34th, a near collision with a stroller in a rare crosswalk. Traffic is completely chaotic and set up for far higher speeds that is safe. Someone will absolutely be killed on 34th or 33rd in the future if nothing is done to control the speeds and poor sightlines around parked vehicles.
I hope the City steps up soon and completes the picture with their new Main Street master plan for the area: a modern mid-density urban village
with walkable, transit friendly streetscapes. Adding about 10 blocks worth of 1st Street SW-level high-quality streetscape improvements would go a long way to address this. And about 20 more completely controlled intersections.