Oakland Drive/Winchell Traffic Calming

Pilot traffic calming measures in the Winchell neighborhood will get an update this May. Over about three weeks, the mini traffic circles on Chevy Chase Boulevard at Waite and Lorraine Avenues will be cleaned and be reset, and the curb bump-outs along Winchell Avenue will be updated. The full radius bump-outs that were installed last year at the intersections with Aberdeen Drive, Broadway Avenue, and Rambling Road will be replaced with narrower, canoe-shaped bump-outs. These changes are based on feedback from neighborhood residents and an evaluation of each measure’s performance over the previous year. 

Once these adjustments have been made, the curb bump outs and traffic circles will be filled with asphalt to make them more durable (although not necessarily permanent). The asphalt work is anticipated to take place in late May or early June. Afterwards, neighborhood-led beautification efforts can begin.     

This work is part of a traffic calming pilot in the neighborhood that started last year and will continue through 2025. It's intended to not only calm traffic on these neighborhood streets, but to provide insight into the effectiveness of these traffic calming treatments as staff look to plan larger scale or city-wide projects in the future. 

Traffic and speed data was collected before implementing these traffic calming measures, and City staff will continue to monitor driver behaviors to see how effective they are at reducing speed and improving safety. 

The City of Kalamazoo was awarded a federal Safe Streets for All grant in 2023, which will fund further study and implementation of pilot traffic calming projects over the next two years. The $750,000 grant will result in a plan outlining where safety improvements are needed, and what specific treatments will work best in each unique circumstance. The results of this Foundation for Excellence-funded pilot project in Winchell will also contribute to that plan.