1999-03-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I March 18, 1999 To the New Brighton City Council; Just this past Monday, March 15, 1999, following the city's Neighborhood Meeting at the Family Service Center, we first learned ofthe city's plan for reconstructing 16th Avenue S.W. from County Road E, south to Silver Lane. On March 16, I obtained a copy of the Feasibility Study for Project 9~-1. The notice of the February 24 preliminary infonnation meeting did not include any mention of a sidewalk. I assume that this was an oversight. The Feasibility Study for the project mentions on page 3, "Four options .... were presented to the residents". By this statement, the plan for sidewalks and parking restrictions was obviously prepared prior to the meeting, yet no notification ofthis particular portion of the plan was made to residents. If this had been done, I'm sure that there would have been more neighborhood representation and opposition to the plan at the February 24 meeting. We, ourselves, were unable to attend the meeting because of a work commitment (Jean) and illness (John), or we would have objected to the proposed plan at that time. The notice of the March 23 meeting, mailed just this past Friday and received over the weekend, did mention a sidewalk proposal, but gave no specifics as to location and other details. As nearly 30 year residents of 16th Avenue S.W., we have strong feelings on this proposal and would have liked to have been heard in person at the March 23 council meeting to offer our oposition to this plan, except that we had a prior commitment to be out of town during that week. Instead, this letter will have to suffice. In the proposed plan as we now understand it, in addition to possible storm sewer, curb & gutter, water and sewer utility improvements and reconstruction of the road surface, a sidewalk is scheduled to be added on the west side of 16th Avenue S.W. The sidewalk is proposed to be constructed such that it will extend into what is now the curb parking lane on the west side of the street. An eight foot boulevard is also proposed, to separate this sidewalk from the street surface. The net effect of this proposal will be to narrow 16th Avenue S.W. to 32 feet and eliminate parking on the west side of the street. We have been told that the narrowing of 16th Avenue S.W. and the addition ofthis sidewalk will be an aid to "calming" and slowing traffic. Nothing can be further from the truth. This plan will not accomplish the desired result! The Feasibility Study states on page 3 that the "do nothing" option is "the most economical and the safest alternative with respect to sight distance and recovery area. " To find an example of where this type of plan does not work, we have only to look a mile and a quarter to the west in neighboring Columbia Heights. The western extension of County Road E, across Reservoir Boulevard becomes 44th Avenue N.E. From Reservoir Boulevard to Central Avenue N.E. is a halfmile stretch of residential area which travels downhill to the west. The speed limit is 30 MPH and the street is approximately 35 feet wide. Parking has been eliminated on the south side, and a sidewalk adjacent to the roadway has been constructed on the north side of 44th Avenue N.E. This design is similar, although not the same as the proposed plan for 16th Avenue S.W. It should be noted that 44th Avenue N.E., while residential, is a semimajor thoroughfare through Columbia Heights.