How public art can slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety

Vendors lined the street as thousands of Charlotteans came out to Open Streets 704 on Sunday, April 28th!  People of all ages were able to enjoy car free day from 1pm to 5pm on a perfectly sunny Sunday!

If you’ve never attended an Open Streets 704, it is a County/City partnership event which closes down four miles of streets to vehicle traffic.  It allows people to ride bikes and walk in the middle of usually busy roads.

Sustain Charlotte worked with the Charlotte Department of Transportation to install a curb extension on the corner of Hawthorne and Kennon during the event.  This will make traffic slow down as they turn onto Kennon, a neighborhood street. Together, we were able to fast-track this project as part of the Plaza Street Conversion.

Darion Fleming transformed this nontraditional space into a work of art.  He designed an amazing street mural for the space between the sidewalk and the new speed bumps.  Follow him on Instagram at @da.flemingo!

Volunteers and participants stopped and helped us paint!  We went from a paint by numbers sketch to a fully colored, beautiful koi fish in the span of an afternoon.

We want to thank all of our friends that made this special event happen!  Check out more photos here.

Thanks for reading!

As a nonprofit, community support is essential for us to keep doing what we do — including providing free articles like this. If you found this article helpful, please consider supporting Sustain Charlotte.

Want to stay in the loop? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.