RULE 94 | DO A WALKABILITY STUDY
- Holly Terrill
- Oct 2
- 4 min read
WALKABLE WICHITA: LESSONS FROM JEFF SPECK
BY RAMI STUCKY
Meridian Avenue, between 71st and I-235, used to be two lanes. In 2007, parts of it had posted speed limits of 35 mph. Further north, the speed limit was 40, but the road was shaded on either side by large trees, which narrowed the field of vision and naturally encouraged drivers to drive more slowly. The avenue serves the growing suburb of Haysville, and between 7,000 and 10,000 cars travelled along it during the day in the late 2000s.[1] Although the two-lane road was reaching its capacity, adding a center turn lane would allow the street to handle around 20,000 cars.[2]
However, on July 1, 2008, the Wichita City Council and city engineers took a much more drastic step. Although, by the city’s own recognition, “traffic loads are not as severe for this area as exists in areas experiencing higher growth rates,”[3] they proceeded with a plan to widen Meridian to four lanes. They even added an additional center two-way turn lane to extend as far south as 47th Street.[4] Even today, with average daily traffic levels of 13,000, Meridian has no business being four lanes, and especially not five lanes.
As a result of the change, the trees were removed and replaced by a wider five-lane road. The speed limit has remained 40 mph. However, in all likelihood, that is far from the speed limit driven. As urban planner Jeff Speck notes, “the more lanes a street has, the more it feels like a highway, and the more drivers are induced to speed.”[5] There are sidewalks on both sides of the street, but only until 47th Street. Any further south, and sidewalks exist in full on the east side of Meridian but not on the west side.
Over the last 10 years, Meridian Avenue has experienced approximately 144 crashes on its stretch between 47th and 71st Streets. In 2024 alone, there have been two fatalities on the street, one involving a pedestrian.[6] At around 7:26 on October 10, Marjorielle Evans decided she wanted to walk to get a snack from a nearby QuikTrip, located on the northwest corner of Meridian and MacArthur Road. While on the phone with her sister, she decided to cross Meridian at Oxberry Street. She was already on the west side of Meridian and thus on the correct side of the street to get to her destination. The problem, though? There are no sidewalks on the west side of Meridian at this location, only on the east side. Marjorielle would have to walk along the grass. Further north, closer to 47th, fence lines, shrubbery, and trees line the adjacent street, possibly forcing pedestrians to step into the street and face oncoming traffic.
So Marjorielle decided to cross at Oxberry, where there was no signalized light, and catch the walking path on the other side. She made her way past the two lanes of southbound traffic and the left lane of northbound traffic. Right before she was about to make it to the sidewalk, she was struck and killed by a driver.
“Do a walkability study,” urges Speck.[7] Audit the number and width of lanes to see where roads could be narrowed. Locate key locations that are unsafe and suggest redesigns. Find out where people walk and fill in those routes with new civic spaces. Focusing on how, why, and where people walk is vital to ensuring the safety and vitality of a community.
In the official police report for this crash, Deputy Jones of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department provided the opinion that “I believe [the victim] was crossing the road (not at a pedestrian crosswalk) while on the phone with her sister. [The vehicle] was driving northbound in the outer lane and could not see [the victim] and then hit [her].”[8] While the suggestion of “not at a crosswalk” suggests some blame goes to Evans, a walkability study questions what she could have done differently. There was no available crosswalk. The only sidewalk was on the opposite side of the road. And the only way to get there was to traverse a road made wider to accommodate traffic levels that do not exist. What was she supposed to do?
[1] Sedgwick County, Capital Improvement Program-Infrastructure (Sedgwick County, 2008), 482, https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/media/27433/infrastructure.pdf.
[2] US Department of Transportation, Road Diet Informational Guide (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.), 17.
[3] City of Wichita, South Wichita/Haysville Area Plan (2011), 12, https://www.wichita.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9144/South-Wichita-Haysville-Area-Plan-PDF?bidId=.
[4] City of Wichita, City of Wichita City Council Agenda Item No. XII-5a (2009), https://wichitaks.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=20&clip_id=300&meta_id=33808.
[5] Jeff Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places (Island Press, 2018), 106.
[7] Speck, Walkable City Rules: 101 Steps to Making Better Places, 224.
[8] Crash Report 2024-00052967 is available via Kansas Open Records Act for $15 purchase through sheriffrecords@sedgwick.gov.
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