A group opposed to the 15^th Street project in its current configuration wants Washington’s City Council to inform it before the council takes any action, if any, following today’s meeting with city and state transportation officials.

The council and representatives of the North Carolina Department of Transportation are scheduled to meet in the Council Chambers at City Hall at 6 p.m. to discuss the 15^th Street widening and access management project. The meeting is open to the public, but there will be no forum for public comments.

The meeting stems from the City Council’s unanimous decision during its Dec. 12, 2016, meeting to oppose the 15^th Street project as currently proposed by DOT. The wording of Councilman Doug Mercer’s motion left the door open for another plan to be proposed for consideration.

Ned Hulbert, who lives on North Market Street, spoke to the council about the meeting at the council’s Feb. 13 meeting. Hulbert, representing the group opposed to the project, said, “A number of our citizens have continued to do research on the 15^th Street expansion project, and that’s only reinforced our opposition.” Hulbert said the group considers the project “overkill on a large scale.”

Hulbert said the group believes the project, as currently proposed, would create more problems that it would solve and/or make existing problems, such as poor drainage and emergency responses, along the project corridor worse.

“The formal request we would like to make of you is that if you do decide to take a vote again on the 15^th Street project, that you would do the public the favor of allowing us to speak again before any vote might be taken,” Hulbert said. “That’s our formal request of you.”

Some residents and business owners along the project corridor opposed raised medians and other elements of the proposed project. In October 2016, City Manager Bobby Roberson said residents’ concerns have caught the attention of DOT, which modified the plan. Despite DOT’s modifications to the project, those residents and business owners remained unhappy with the project.

DOT spokesmen have said the project’s goal was to reduce the number of vehicles crashes on 15^th Street. Crashes on the western section of the project corridor occur about three times more frequently than crashes on similar roads in other areas of the state, according to DOT figures.