Updated Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022:
Your days of turning left from West Taylor Run Parkway onto the Telegraph Road are numbered.
The second phase of a traffic pilot program will test eliminating the left turn from West Taylor Run onto the Telegraph Road on ramp. The test period begins Sept. 12, according to signs posted in the neighborhood.
The change will force drivers to take Duke Street east to Dove Street and turn back west toward Telegraph, or to take the Duke Street service road West to Cambridge Road before taking Duke Street back east toward the Telegraph Road on ramp.
Traffic and Parking Board
Second phase of pilot program proposal for West Taylor Run and Duke Street.
Residents who attended a recent meeting of the traffic board expressed concerns that both the exit onto Dove Street and the service road would become seriously backed up from this, but it would significantly reduce cut-through traffic on West Taylor Run Parkway. At times, traffic on West Taylor Run has backed up the entire 0.6 miles from Duke Street to Janney's Lane.
The changes are the second phase of a pilot program to make Duke Street more efficient while reducing traffic on side streets. The first phase was earlier this year and only included signal timing changes that discouraged commuters from using side streets.
The signal timing changes overall were effective in changing the way people commuted:
- Travel times were faster for commuters, particularly on Quaker Lane (35% faster).
- West Taylor Run was 20% faster than the pre-pilot program period.
- Cut-through traffic on West Taylor Run decreased by 47% and decreased on Cambridge Road 73%.
- Cut through traffic on Yale Drive , where there is now a “no left turn” restriction, decreased by 96%, from 706 vehicles in the peak to 31.
- Cut through traffic on Fort Williams Parkway decreased substantially, by 81%, from 171 vehicles to 32.
The second phase of the pilot program will reintroduce the signal timing from the first phase and eliminate the left turn from West Taylor Run onto the Telegraph Road on ramp. The second phase would start sometime this fall.
