A new Community Wishing Tree appeared Wednesday along the North 19th corridor, installed by the local non-profit Random Acts of Silliness, and within hours the tree’s paper wish tags revealed a community united by a single, overwhelming desire: that North 19th Avenue would somehow have less traffic.

Of the first 43 wishes tied to the tree’s branches, 31 referenced North 19th directly. “Less traffic on 19th” appeared nine times. “Widen 19th” appeared four times. “Delete 19th” appeared once, in a child’s handwriting.

“The tree is meant to spread joy and whimsy,” said Random Acts of Silliness founder Kara Nightingale, standing beside the installation while cars idled bumper-to-bumper in the background. “We envisioned wishes for world peace, kindness, connection. What we’ve gotten so far is mostly infrastructure complaints.”

One tag read, “I wish the light at Durston and 19th would last longer than four seconds.” Another: “I wish the person in front of me at the Starbucks drive-through would know their order before reaching the speaker.” A third, written in careful cursive: “I wish it was 2005.”

Nightingale said the tree will remain in place through the summer and the wishes will be collected and displayed at a community art exhibition in September. She acknowledged this means the city will receive a curated gallery of its residents’ traffic frustrations, presented as art.

“It’s actually kind of beautiful,” she said. “In a sad way.”

Passing motorist Glen Drucker, 52, pulled over briefly to add a wish. He declined to share what he wrote but said it “involved the intersection at Baxter and 19th” and “would require federal funding.”

The tree’s single non-traffic-related wish, as of press time, read: “I wish my dad would come to my soccer game.” It was tied to the highest branch.

Nightingale said that one made her cry.