The council killed two plans from a report to improve safety along the Third and Fourth Street corridor between the bridge and Orange Avenue. The ideas were to erect cul-de-sacs or extend left turn restrictions from Third during peak hours. The vote was 5-0.
“It’s a nonstarter for me,” Councilman Bill Sandke said after reading the report from the Fehr and Peers study that the city had commissioned.
The report concluded that both left turn bans and cul-de-sacs would increase vehicle delays on Third that were “substantial and comparable, if not worse than, those experienced when semi-diverters were in place in 2003-2004.”
Both ideas had been suggested as ways to improve safety in the corridor where two people have been seriously injured and one killed in the past two years.
Unlike past meetings where neighbors who live in that corridor came to the council demanding that something be done, no one stepped forward to support either option. People from the other side of Orange Avenue though spoke out about the impact the restrictions would have on their neighborhood; specifically that what people were experiencing on A, B and C Avenues would migrate over to D and E, creating an even worse safety scenario.
“Many more school children live on the streets you’re diverting traffic to. You’ll be decreasing their safety,” said Laura Miller who lives on E Avenue.
Richard Bailey who first proposed left turn restrictions wasn’t ready to capitulate. “Is the status quo acceptable when two-third of accidents in the corridor are caused by cross-street traffic? We have to advance something,” he said.
“I don’t just want to let this die and let those dangerous intersections go unchecked.” He added that the report didn’t include mitigation suggestions; something that a full environmental impact report would. He then urged the council to proceed.
It was Councilman Mike Woiwode’s argument that resonated with the council. “We’re trying to solve problems that we already have solutions for without seeing the impact,” he said. Indeed the council has approved bulb outs and speed tables to slow traffic and make the corridor safer. “Lets go with the stuff we’ve studied; then in a stepwise manner expand on those,” Woiwode said.
Other council action:
The council approved three condominium conversions on the 700 and 800 blocks of F and E. All three will replace apartment complexes that have already been leveled. While the vote was unanimous, Councilwoman Carrie Downey had some misgivings.
“In many ways the change will be good. There will be less density, more parking that will benefit people who live on those streets.”
Still she felt a sense of loss. Those apartment buildings were among the few places people of modest means could afford to rent here. In the not too distant future she predicted that it will be almost impossible to have your child taught by a teacher who lives here. Police officers and fire fighters will also find it difficult to live here. In fact the only apartments that will be left are those that can’t be demolished because they are deemed historically important.
While she could find no legal justification to stop this loss, she was able to restore a project to the city’s capital improvement projects before the council voted on the 2016-2017 budget.
Before the council voted on the budget, which was discussed at the council’s May 17 meeting, Downey asked the council to reconsider spending $550 thousand to install decorative lighting for the Avenue of Heroes Banners.
The item had been excluded from this year’s list of capital improvement projects because no one on the council knew if the public wanted the lights. Downey took it upon herself to find out. With a petition in hand, she knocked on every door on Third and Fourth streets. She left a notice for people not at home and asked them to e-mail her. She collected 50 signatures and support e-mails from residents along the route. Only four people opposed the idea, she reported.
The vote was 5-0.
