Changes may soon be coming to Welch Avenue. Ames City Council meetings over the past couple of years have looked into removing parking and creating bike lanes, and renewed interest is again pushing for those things. While no physical changes have been made, the City of Ames should take a step back before to assess the situation.

Welch Avenue has long been the night scene of Ames. A plethora of bars and restaurants makes this place an inviting spot for young adults to congregate into the early hours of the morning. With such a large number of people moving about, the City of Ames should do more than just remove parking and install bike lanes.

What Welch Avenue really needs is a pedestrian mall. Without obstructing the Ames Fire Department Station Two, the City of Ames should permanently close off Welch Avenue to all vehicle traffic somewhere just south of Lincoln Way.

A pedestrian mall would offer a number of benefits.

Most importantly, it would make Welch Avenue much safer. Besides the obvious safety advantage of having zero traffic, one or both ends of the pedestrian mall could be turned into short term parking, encouraging bar patrons to utilize services such as Uber or Lyft rather than drive themselves.

The intersection of Welch Avenue and Lincoln Way would also see improvements in safety. Already one of the most dangerous intersections in Ames, it could be redesigned to better accommodate the large numbers of pedestrians that cross there to get to campus.

The pedestrian mall should also be open to bikes. This has been a goal of the City Council and rightfully so. Many students bike to campus and allowing them a way through ought to remain a priority.

While a pedestrian mall would be more expensive than the currently proposed changes, it offers far more advantages. A pedestrian mall would add to the atmosphere of Welch Avenue, it would improve the safety of pedestrians as well as increase traffic flow along Lincoln Way and it would give cyclists a better way to bike to campus.

City of Ames, turn Welch Avenue into a pedestrian mall.