Residents concerned about traffic after Wasena Bridge closure
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — Since the Wasena Bridge officially closed Monday, April 22 for a rebuild, residents nearby on Day Avenue Southwest say their road has become a default detour. Lori Baker-Lloyd has lived on the street for about 10 years and says it’s not just the volume of traffic she’s seen over the past two days, but the speed and kind of traffic.
“We actually saw a gas tanker come down the block yesterday,” she said. “I couldn’t believe they even cleared the wires it was so huge.”
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The City of Roanoke says Day Avenue is not intended to be a detour for the bridge project. Drivers need to follow Franklin Road onto Brandon Avenue. You can find all detours on the city website.
“Some minor changes were made yesterday which we appreciate very much but they haven’t taken the steps that are really critical to move some of this traffic off a very small residential street onto some arteries that it’s intended to go through,” said Michael Shasberger, another resident of Day Avenue.
Residents say they’ve seen city officials visiting Day Avenue since the bridge closed and hope more will be done to address the traffic.
“I would like to see it right now just restricted to residential traffic, the people who live here,” said Lori Elis, a resident of the road for 16 years.
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Some locals say they’ve taken to parking in the back alley so their cars won’t be hit by people navigating the narrow street lined with parked cars. However, they also fear for the safety of children and pets in the neighborhood.
Day Avenue was the site of an accident in 2016 involving a child less than 8 years old, according to DMV data. Baker-Lloyd remembers it well and says that incident, plus the recent death of a child less than three miles away on Avenham Avenue SW, compound her fears.
“This started up those type of anxieties,” she said about the traffic. “We have children playing, we’re that kind of street.”
Residents say they want to see greater efforts to divert traffic and slow the cars that do come through Day Avenue.
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