TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — As Northeast Tallahassee grows, so does traffic.
Bannerman Road is the gateway to some of the Northeast's biggest neighborhoods. The road is being widened to ease traffic and increase safety.
While some living in this neighborhood say they're excited for a larger road, others say it comes with the cost of comfort on their property.
Ron Battles said traffic on Bannerman Road keeps him and his family up at night.
"It's a quiet neighborhood other than the traffic," Battles said.
Living behind Bannerman Road for more than a decade, he said he has heard the traffic noise increase. He expects that to only go up with more lanes on the road.
"We're close. We're too close to the road," Battles said. "The noise is high. Initially, if we thought this was going to be an issue, we would've never had the home built here."
The joint city-county planning agency Blueprint is planning to widen Bannerman Road from two lanes to four from McBride Point to Preservation Road.
They said the goal of the project is to increase safety and traffic flow for over 1,000 people who take Bannerman during peak hours.
Langston Matthews takes Bannerman often. He said this could have been used a long time ago.
"I worked for the postal service and have driven mail routes out this way," Matthews said. "It definitely was a problem during certain times of the day because you only have two lanes."
He said it will make driving in the growing part of town a bit easier. "The widening of the lanes, that'll help everybody travel in a safer manner," Matthews said.
Battles agreed the extra lanes and median will improve traffic flow, but still wishes more thought was given to how neighbors here are feeling.
"It's a benefit for the city, for traffic, but for the homeowners that live on Bannerman, it's not going to be a benefit for us," Battles said.
He said he wishes more steps would be take to consider residents comfort.
"Off of Blair Stone Road, they have a sound barrier. I think we should qualify for that," Battles said. "They have to have some considerations for the families and our property values."
The project is still being designed as Blueprint is working on getting more of the right of way for the extra lanes.
