Pasco Speaks Up: Sylvester Street Upgrades Stir Strong Opinions!

When the City of Pasco announced improvements were coming to Sylvester Street between Road 54 and the east corridor, the majority of residents were excited about the 4.9 million dollar project – mostly funded by State and Federal grants. After all, who doesn’t like improvements to their neighborhood?

Why did Sylvester Street need to be changed?

According to the City of Pasco’s website, the project, dubbed, “the City’s commitment to enhance the safety and efficiency of our streets", is intended to create “a more inclusive road from Road 54 to N. 3^rd Avenue”.  Instead of the original two lanes in each direction, Sylvester Street has been reduced to one 10.5-foot lane in each direction with an 11-foot center turn lane. A 6-foot wide sidewalk for pedestrians was added on the north side and a shared multi-use path on the south side for bicycles and pedestrians.

Now that the project is nearing completion, Pasco residents who use the street regularly are expressing their disappointment about the changes on the City’s Facebook page, and many are wondering why the change was made in the first place.

At first glance, the changes appear to have increased efficiency but some residents point out that the updated lanes have created less efficiency – garbage pickup, mail, and UPS/FedEx package deliveries block lanes during all hours of the day and motorists are forced to wait or use the new middle turn lane to pass these service vehicles.

The majority of the comments on the Facebook thread are negative but many are happy with the changes.

Others are concerned about the "finished" project and wonder why Sylvester Street west of the overpass wasn't refinished with fresh blacktop or chip seal. Instead, it was patched, restriped, and narrowed. There’s been one accident since the changes – a vehicle jumped the bike lane curb and took out a street sign.

Get our free mobile app

Another concern on the social media thread is the updated lane configuration at the Sylvester and 28^th Avenue intersection.

With the new changes, there is one lane heading east on Sylvester with a new bike lane on the right. Before the changes, there was a middle lane for going straight and a turn lane for vehicles to turn right. Motorists are experiencing rush hour backups starting west of the 28^th Avenue overpass as they wait to turn right on the 28th - it is illegal to use the bike lane to turn right.

This comment notes another concern: because of the addition of a left turn lane on 28^th Avenue going north, large commercial trucks don’t have enough clearance to make a right turn from West Sylvester to go south on 28^th.

On a positive note, Road 54 to Road 34 has been a street racers paradise. Maybe the lower speed limit (30 mph) and narrowed single lanes will discourage racing. Change is hard and only time will tell if the improvements will make a difference. You can read more about the project and its intended purpose at the City of Pasco website.