Historic Little Italy Traffic Research from January, 2007

18th Street from Raspberry to Sassafras is constant at 9,090 vehicles. From Sassafras east to beyond Parade Street the number is also constant but increases to 15,057.

If these numbers are accurate, 18th is being used almost exclusively as a through street both east and west of Sassafras with about 40% of the west-bound traffic on 18th east of Sassafras turning south on Sassafras and not continuing into the Little Italy neighborhood.

Raspberry Street traffic is heavier north of 16th Street by about 1000 vehicles per day, which may mean that a good portion of the southbound traffic on Raspberry is turning east on 18th Street and going through the Little Italy neighborhood.

Liberty Street counts are identical from Peach Street to Fourth Street at 8,658. This means either that Liberty is totally a through street, with no one turning onto 18th or any other streets in Little Italy from Liberty, or equal amounts are exiting and entering Liberty Street at each intersection in, and north and south of, the neighborhood. (Even a brief observation of traffic at Liberty and 18th shows that plenty of trucks and other vehicles are exiting or entering Liberty at 18th; so, (a) either the counts are suspect, (b) the day they were taken in January was atypical, or (c) the numbers entering and exiting were identical that day.)

Similar numbers are shown for Cherry Street, with essentially identical counts of 6,924 vehicles from 57th Street in Millcreek Twp all the way north to 4th Street. (Supposedly there is drop off to 5,924 between 21st and 19th Streets, but I suspect that may be a typo or data entry error. Bottom line – Cherry is another almost exclusive through street north and south.

The numbers for Sassafras are similarly suspect as they show no difference north and south of 18th Street, with 12,423 vehicles per day all the way from 26th Street to 6th Street. After 6th, they drop off to 3,500, which makes some sense at least – but one would think there would be a significant change at 12th and 18th Streets as well, especially when you look at the numbers for 18th immediately east and west of Sassafras.

Therefore, with the caveat that these numbers are highly suspect in several places, within the Little Italy neighborhood, 18th Street, Liberty, Cherry, and Sassafras appear to be almost exclusively through streets, with significant new traffic only entering 18th Street from Raspberry Street.