First Avenue

What Are Plans for First Avenue?
Improvements to First Avenue are designed to restore the street to a neighborhood collector, rather than the regional corridor it is today. Improvements will also contribute to traffic calming. Plans call for two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, with bike lanes on either side of the street. A new sidewalk and tree lawn will be installed on the south side, and overhead utilities will be replaced and buried. A stop sign is recommended at Pontiac Street. Click here to see a cross section rendering of First Avenue.

What will happen to the First Avenue berm?
During the Buckley Annex planning process, nearby residents were divided about maintaining the existing berm or removing it. The question was left for a future developer to determine. After much neighborhood input, a decision was made to extend several streets through to First Avenue. This includes Magnolia Street, Niagara Street, Newport Street, Oneida Street, and Poplar Street. This will eliminate create connectivity to the Mayfair Park neighborhood and disperse traffic around the Buckley Annex site.