South Bend's East Bank community projects aim to slow traffic, enhance neighborhood

SOUTH BEND — Joe Mittiga can’t even count the number of crashes that have occurred outside Corby’s Irish Pub since he took over the family business about 10 years ago.

“They’re almost always precipitated by people driving way too fast on LaSalle,” said Mittiga. "I’ve been complaining about it for years.”

And though Mittiga can’t count the total crashes that have occurred near his business, he can recall the seven times his building at E. LaSalle and N. Niles avenues has been hit by vehicles and the time one of his customers — a student from the University of Notre Dame — had to be hospitalized overnight after getting hit by a car.

“It’s incredible nobody has gotten killed yet,” Mittiga said.

Frank Perri has the same worries at the Lauber Kitchen & Bar, which sits catty-corner to Corby’s along LaSalle. After restoring the historic building and opening the restaurant in 2019, it didn’t take him too long to realize the street was dangerous.

“There’s a nearby utility pole that seems to get knocked down a lot,” Perri said. “The three big concrete planters on the sidewalk aren’t there for beauty. They’re there to protect the building and our customers.”

The problem of speeding traffic coming in and out of the core of downtown along LaSalle has been there for many years, but it’s become an especially dangerous situation in recent years with the rapid growth of the East Bank neighborhood.

More people have been choosing to move into townhomes, apartments and condominiums on the east side of the St. Joseph River because of its proximity to downtown and amenities such as Howard Park and walking trails, among other things.

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At the same time, an expanding list of pubs, restaurants and boutique retailers have opened in the East Bank to serve those residents and visitors who are attracted by the walkability of the riverfront community.

“The East Bank is emerging as a place where people want to live, dine and play,” said Perri, who has bet heavily on the growth of the East Bank with investments in luxury condominiums along the river and other buildings in the area.

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And the increased traffic, pedestrians and need for parking will only increase with the 300 E LaSalle apartment tower and other retailers and restaurants planning to open in the neighborhood in the next year or so.

Those problems in the rapidly growing East Bank area have not gone unnoticed by the city.

But with so many construction projects already underway on the east side of the river and the slowdowns caused by the pandemic, the time wasn’t right to proceed with needed infrastructure projects — until now.

The city’s Redevelopment Commission recently approved spending $426,480 for the design of what’s called the LaSalle and Colfax Streetscape. That work will be handled by Jones Petrie Rafinski. Santi Garces, executive director of Community Investment, believes work on the first phase of the project — focusing on LaSalle from the bridge to Eddy Street — could get underway this year with completion likely early next year.

Garces said the plan aims to meld ideas from the Northeast Neighborhood Plan as well as from business owners, residents and other stakeholders in the East Bank neighborhood with the overall goals of slowing traffic moving on Colfax and LaSalle, increasing street parking and making the area more pedestrian-friendly with a neighborhood feel.

LaSalle is currently two-lanes in each direction, but traffic turns into a free-for-all near intersections where motorists try to avoid cars that might be making a left-hand turn, especially during rush hour. Garces said those problems might be cleared up, for example, with a single lane in each direction and a center turn lane.

Bike lanes, lighting and even slightly raised crosswalks — which serve to naturally slow traffic — are some of the additional elements that will likely be part of the plan that also aims to bring some of the amenities from the west side of the river to the East Bank.

Garces estimated construction on the two projects could total about $3 million and that the Colfax work, which would likely extend to about Niles Avenue, wouldn’t get underway until the work along LaSalle was wrapped up to avoid shutting down too many lanes moving in and out of the city.

Though there’s already been a considerable amount of public input, Garces anticipated there will likely be additional opportunities for comment and ideas before plans for the LaSalle portion of the project are finalized this spring.

Work along Colfax would be a little less extensive because car crashes aren’t as much of a problem and the bridge over the river is slated for replacement in the next few years, Garces said.

“We want these projects to enhance the development that’s been going on in the East Bank,” Garces said. “Part of that is slowing traffic without creating congestion.”

That’s what both Mittiga and Perri are hoping for.

“Infrastructure change is long overdue,” Perri said, pointing out that he’d also hope the project ultimately could incorporate improvements to Hill Street as an important connector between Notre Dame and downtown.

“The neighborhood is so much better than it was even 10 years ago,” Mittiga said. “Now, we’re seeing a lot of people moving around the neighborhood.”

If that growth is to continue in a safe manner, changes have to be made.

“If they have smart streets on the other side of the river,” Mittiga said. “I’d have to say that our street is very ignorant.”

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend projects aim to slow traffic in East Bank neighborhood