16th Street getting a makeover between Illinois and Central

A plan to resurface 16th Street through the heart of the city – an area affecting both The Old Northside and Herron-Morton Place – has blossomed into a more comprehensive effort to

Improvements will include sidewalk bump-outs and landscaping at several corners, including the busy intersection at 16th and Delaware streets.

improve life for pedestrians along the well-traveled artery.

The Department of Public Works, reacting to a proposal quickly developed by Old Northside residents Lynn Molzan and Kevin Osburn on behalf of the informal organization known as the New Tinker Street Committee, has agreed to incorporate many (but not all) of the suggestions including curb bump-outs to make street crossings easier and less hazardous for pedestrians and new green spaces.

Before the end of the year, improvements coming to 16th Street include repaired or replaced sidewalks and curbs, new and expanded tree lawns, a significant number of new trees, and the removal of unnecessary pavement. Crosswalks will be added and ramps for people with disabilities will be replaced.

Between 20 and 30 neighbors and stakeholders have been taking part in the New Tinker Street Committee, named after the original name of 16th Street. Molzan said that when he and Osburn learned that the Department of Public Works was embarking on an $800,000 project to repave 16th Street, they needed to act swiftly.

The New Tinker Street Committee most recently met on July 29, ahead of Molzan’s mid-August meeting with DPW officials, who have been receptive to the ideas.

The city’s resurfacing plan originally extended from Senate Avenue to College Avenue. But now the scope of the project has been cut to the stretch of 16th Street from Illinois Street to Central Avenue – because of pending construction projects at Methodist Hospital at the project’s original western end and Caravelle Commons on the east end.

Molzan said the thrust of the New Tinker Street Committee’s proposal was to create a more walkable street for local residents. Traffic would also be calmed by the addition of parking lanes in several locations along the route.

One stretch where their ideas won’t be included is adjacent to the Walgreen’s pharmacy just west of Meridian Street. The plan put forth by Molzan and Osburn would have moved the sidewalk away from the curb, so that the trees would help insulate pedestrians from vehicles. But city officials said that work was too new to merit reconstruction. The same is true, they said, of frontage along McDonald’s just across the street.

The busy intersection of 16th and Delaware streets will be addressed, however. Molzan said that intersection is very troublesome for pedestrians, including students from Herron High School who have some classes at the Harrison Center for the Arts.

The intersection at 16th and Alabama streets will also be improved in accordance to the New Tinker Street Committee’s plan. A block east of that intersection, tree work and new sidewalk will be built between Ogden and New Jersey streets.