Lincoln Avenue Traffic in Emmitsburg Should Get Safer and Slower

James Rada, Jr.

Changes are coming to Lincoln Avenue in Emmitsburg that should, expectantly, slow the traffic on the street, increasing the safety and usability of the street. This would hopefully make it user-friendly for bicyclists and pedestrians, too.

The big problem with the street is that it is used as an alternative to avoid Main Street at peak times. Unlike Main Street, however, Lincoln Avenue is not much more than an alley. It is not designed to carry a heavy volume of traffic at the same speeds as Main Street.

To look at the problem, the town used grant funding to pay for a traffic calming study of Lincoln Avenue.

Mead & Hunt conducted the study and offered two possible solutions:

        The road would continue as a two-lane road with additional striping and traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps taken. In addition, a pedestrian path could be created that was better delineated from the main road.

        The road would become one-way to reduce cut-through traffic. Bike traffic could travel in that direction on the road or in the opposite direction on a bike lane. Additional striping and traffic calming measures would also be added.

The town hosted a public meeting about the two options in August, and the majority of those people in attendance favored the first option.

After discussing the study, the Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners recently voted in favor of the option the community seems to want, which is maintaining the two-lane road. However, besides maintaining the section of Lincoln Avenue that is currently one-way at the west end, they also want to make another section one-way.

“The town is considering making part of Lincoln behind the firehouse one-way as well as School Lane in hopes of reducing commuter traffic from coming off South Seton to avoid the traffic light,” Emmitsburg Mayor Frank Davis wrote in an e-mail. “The upgrade will include full lane stripping and flashing stop signs and hopefully crosswalk signage.”

In the end, the town’s solution is a hybrid of the two alternatives.

Once the changes are enacted, further changes can be made or reversed, depending on how traffic on the road is affected in real life.

Some of the existing signage and calming measures on W. Lincoln Avenue in Emmitsburg.

Photo by James Rada, Jr.