Traffic Garden Combines Riding Fun, Safety

Cruising through the Boca Teeca neighborhood, Alyssa Hannah encountered a newly erected sign directing visitors to the Traffic Garden within North Park.

“I'm like, What's the Traffic Garden?” Hannah recalls thinking. “And I came in with my husband and checked it out.” 

Liking what she saw, Hannah brought her three children to see what they thought.

Evidently, they liked it, too.

“We come here maybe two or three times a week, and they love it,” Hannah said. “We come here for like, an hour, two hours, and they enjoy it.”

Responding to beautification requests from local residents, crews began painting a Traffic Garden in mid-July on pavement off Jeffrey St. west of NW 2nd Ave., that had previously been tennis courts. Traffic gardens offer children a fun opportunity to learn bicycle and road safety in a visually appealing area free of motorized vehicles.

With painting completed in late July, the District elected to open the Traffic Garden to the public.

“I love it,” Commissioner Suzi Vogelgesang said. “I went by the other day and everyone was out there – all the bikers, adult bikers - were out there photographing it. Everything is great. It's going to be an awesome adjunct to everything we want to do for families in the North Park area.”

Along with painted lanes that serve as “streets,” the Traffic Garden includes pint-sized stop, yield and one way signs to familiarize children with traffic rules.

Hannah says her 5-year-old child is starting to learn the rules of the road. 

“She understands how to stop, how to go on the roundabouts, and that there are sidewalks and parking spaces,” Hannah said.

Her 3-year-old achieved a milestone at the Garden, learning how to operate her scooter without the help of an adult.

While the Garden is open for use, there's still more to come. In the coming weeks the District will add shaded seating structures and bathroom facilities.

Hannah is praising the Traffic Garden to her friends. On a Tuesday morning in mid-August she convinced Laura Kreh to bring her two children to enjoy the Garden. 

“My daughter's 2, so she's a little bit young to understand the traffic signs, but it's a nice place that she can come out and ride her little bike or scooter and play,” Kreh said.