A set of planters on Frazier Avenue were destroyed this week, one day after being installed as part of the road’s redesign in response to a November 2023 crash that killed two pedestrians.
The planters, along with bollards and raised curb stops, were intended to protect a new two-way bike lane from traffic, Chattanooga transportation engineer Carmen Harvey said previously.
The road was re-striped in late October, reducing the lanes from two to one in each direction and adding turn lanes at key intersections. The road also added parking spots that separate it from car traffic.
The redesign came nearly a year after a driver hit and killed Florida residents Ana Posso Rodriguez, 41, and her son Jonathan Devia, 1, who were on vacation and standing on the sidewalk at Frazier and Forest avenues.
That crash, which also severely injured the child’s father, Octavio Devia Paz, sparked public outcry and calls for enhanced pedestrian safety in one of the city’s most highly trafficked pedestrian and tourist areas.
The incident is being investigated by Chattanooga police, said Justin Strickland, spokesperson for the Chattanooga Division of Transportation.
The planters will be replaced in the same configuration, Strickland said by phone Thursday.
The planters came from The Barn Nursery, which met with city officials to make sure they were meeting the city’s goals, owner Cole Webster said in a text.
When Webster heard about the damage, he said his first reaction was to send out a crew to clean it up. Then, he said, he was disappointed in the driver who hit the planters and kept driving.
The estimated cost of the damage is around $1,000 for the pots, plants and soil, Webster said.
“While I may not be in agreement with 100% of how this project has been put together, I know we have major safety issues in this city with traffic,” Webster said. “Especially as our city becomes more densely populated, people need to look for pedestrians first.
“I’m just happy no one was injured,” he said.
(READ MORE: ‘The only sister I had’: The human toll of Chattanooga’s spike in pedestrian deaths)
Barriers like the planters are meant more to slow cars down than to act as a physical barrier, local safe streets advocate Jon Jon Wesolowski said by phone.
“These planters – meant to delineate between where cars can and can’t go – being destroyed shows that cars are used to having more than their fair share of space,” Wesolowski said. “They’re meant to force vehicles to take that line a little bit more seriously, and keep them from parking in cyclist and pedestrian space.”
It takes time for people to get used to new road patterns like the one that went into effect on Frazier in late October, Wesolowski said.
“People are used to driving through there too fast, unsafely, and this design doesn’t allow them to do that,” he said. “They’ll feel frustration at first. They might find a new way to get home, or a different time of day.”
When Central Avenue was re-striped last year, plastic posts put in to protect a new bike lane were destroyed by cars within a week, he said.
“They’ve been replaced once, and since that replacement, they haven’t fallen down again,” Wesolowski said. “It just takes some time for people to get used to new things, and we shouldn’t make a judgment until some time has passed.”
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.
Contributed Photo / Planters on Frazier Avenue, part of a road redesign following a November 2023 crash that killed two pedestrians, were damaged this week, the day after being installed.