Major Springfield trafficway gets landscaping, narrower lanes, and bike lanes

Springfield is re-configuring East Trafficway, a major thoroughfare, to be more appealing and attractive to bicyclists and pedestrians. According to a News-Leader article:

The centerpiece is construction of a landscaped median, which traffic engineers say will make the roadway safer for pedestrians near Hammons Field and Jordan Valley Park.

"Right now, you have a 63-foot slab of asphalt," Haynes described East Trafficway. "We want to break that up. ... That's the purpose of the median — more for beautification."

The median also reduces the width of each of East Trafficway's lanes, from 12 feet to 10 feet. Haynes said that will make drivers instinctively slow down.

"It provides a more safe feeling for the pedestrian to cross," he said.

Among the improvements are five-foot bicycle lanes on each side, sidewalks, and buried power lines.