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Traffic study in the works for Hertel, Colvin avenues

Neighbors want steps taken to make the North Buffalo intersection safer in one of the city's most walkable areas.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The intersection of Colvin and Hertel in North Buffalo can get pretty busy and can be dangerous for pedestrians trying to cross the street.

Now at least one city lawmaker is getting involved and might be making some changes.

"I think we're all really encouraged that the city is not only willing to take our feedback, but they really seem interested in having meaningful discussion around improving the safety of this intersection," Charles Roberts said.

Last week Roberts publicly called for change at the intersection in his North Buffalo neighborhood. He wrote an article for Buffalo Rising, and 2 On Your Side interviewed him last Thursday. He is concerned for everyone's safety in one of Buffalo's most walkable areas.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - There are concerns about the safety of a busy intersection in North Buffalo where we found a missing crosswalk button for pedestrians. "It's just a very dangerous intersection, and if it's dangerous for me and my family, I know it's dangerous for others," Charles Roberts says.

The city has already made one change. Less than a day after our story aired last week, a new crosswalk button was installed, and there are more improvements to come.

"The Department of Public Works is going to do a traffic count to see how many cars are going through here daily. Personally, I think there's been an increase in traffic here in the past few years when the 198 went down to 30 miles per hour. I think a lot more people use Amherst, Hertel, and Delavan when they're traveling east and west," Buffalo Common Councilmember Joel Feroleto said.

Feroleto represents the city’s Delaware District. He says the city will do that traffic study this year and use the data to decide what to do.

The Department of Public Works will also install high visibility crosswalks.

"There's over 20 murals right on the Hertel Alley, so there's a lot of people crossing Colvin Avenue from the other side of Hertel, so we've definitely seen more foot traffic here, and we want to make sure that everyone is safe that's crossing the street," Feroleto said.

For Roberts, the biggest issue now is the right-hand lane on Colvin going north.

"Right now, what you have is not clearly defined lanes, which results in cars in that right lane aggressively getting over to cut off the vehicles traveling north and south in the center lane, and obviously with homes on both the north and south side of Colvin, it just doesn't create a safe environment," Roberts said.

The city says the higher visibility crosswalks will be installed this construction season.

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