Board presses for safety and enforcement at Asher/University intersection as design moves forward

Several board members on July 29 expressed frustration with chronic loitering, encampments and public-safety concerns at the Asher Avenue and University Avenue intersection and asked staff to ensure the planned intersection improvements address both engineering and enforcement issues.

Why it matters: board members described repeat incidents of loitering and medication/begging activity that has created public-safety and sanitation problems at the intersection. One director said people had slept overnight on the median and that an infant had been removed from the median only after weeks; another director said the intersection was left "trashed" after overnight encampments.

Staff said the intersection project (previously planned with city and state funds) focuses on pedestrian crossings and lane realignment to correct misaligned lanes between Colonel Glen and Asher and includes utility and drainage work. Staff noted a separate lighting improvement funded through Metroplan that will improve nighttime visibility. For the specific loitering and encampment concerns, staff said infrastructure changes will restore and, where affected, reconstruct landscaping to original condition, and offered to provide design plans and additional neighborhood briefings.

Board members pressed for enforcement and design choices that reduce opportunities to loiter (for example, median configuration that discourages prolonged sitting), and asked staff to provide the project design and to explore enforcement options and no-trespass measures. Staff said they could provide design drawings and will coordinate with public safety on enforcement approaches.

No vote was taken; staff said the project has federal design funding and that separate right-of-way and construction funding requests will follow once designs are complete.