HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 12/14/1995 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
DECEMBER 14, 1995
PRESENT: Paul Mann Don Wickstrom
Tim Clark Gary Gill
Jim Bennett Tom Brubaker
100TH AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC CONCERNS
Wickstrom opened the meeting explaining the history of this issue beginning with the
petitions the City had received several months ago requesting the closure of S. 244th
which was built in conjunction with the development of"Top of the Hill" and the "non-
opening" of 100th Ave. near the East Hill Elementary School. He noted that the City
has received another petition from the residents on 94th Ave asking for the reverse
effect; that 100th Ave should be opened in the future. Wickstrom explained that 100th
Ave has been on our long term Comprehensive Plan as a collector arterial tying 244th
to 100th. However, 100th Avenue would only be opened at the time of property
development adjacent to 100th Avenue and would be made as a condition of such
development He said that we had a meeting in June with no action at that time - it was
deferred to another meeting however,we did not get back to this issue until October due
to Councilmember and staff vacation schedules. At the October 23rd Public Works
meeting, the action from the Committee was to temporarily close 244th for a period of
up to 18 months. This was a temporary action. After that meeting, there were concerns
from property owners not receiving adequate notice to give their input. Wickstrom said
that after that meeting, staff did an extensive traffic analysis to determine the impact on
closing both 244th and 100th because they affect the entire neighborhood community
as far down as 94th Ave.
Kristen Langley gave an in-depth explanation of the traffic flow throughout the
neighborhood and explained how the level of service is designated.
In response to Mann, Wickstrom explained that the last Committee action was a
recommendation to temporarily close S. 244th for a period of 18 months subject to
concurrence by the Police and Fire Chiefs. At the Council meeting we asked if we
could bring this issue back to another Committee meeting and,we were instructed to do
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additional traffic studies to show what the impacts are. We found the impacts to be
neighborhood wide - from 94th to 104th and from 248th to 240th. At the earlier
meetings, the Eastwood and Canterbury plats were the only affected residents in
attendance. Wickstrom stated that the temporary action can proceed at anytime. We
are now looking at the long term action - what do we do at the end of 18 months?
Continue with the closure, and what do we do about 100th Ave? That property may
develop before the 18 months time-frame and we need a decision of how does that
property develop in terms of the Council's concept.
Police Chief Crawford stated that after looking at the traffic patterns he had a good
argument for all 4 alternatives. He noted the excessive traffic counts in the streets. He
stated that his department could police any of the areas as noted, but he said from his
view, there can be an inequity if one part of the community is forced to have more traffic
than another part.
Fire Chief Angelo stated that the department's general concern is, the more restrictions
that are placed on an access to an area the more difficult it is for fire personnel to get in
and out in a timely fashion. He noted that the Fire Department solicits to keep access
to areas open. He said that if 244th were to remain closed, someone should consider the
possibility of signalization on the Benson Road.
Pete Goforth, a resident in the Canterbury area, expressed concerns about safety. He
noted that 244th is now opened without so much as a centerline painted down the
street. Wickstrom noted that the lines can be painted; that's not the issue. Gill said that
we had the contractor hold off on doing the striping because we knew there was a
possibility that the road might be closed. He said that the developer is required to put
the striping in. However, because this issue has not been resolved as to what the
ultimate configuration was, we did not want to require Mr. Goodwin (Top of The Hill
developer) to spend additional money unnecessarily.
At this time Langley explained in detail the four alternatives offered to satisfy the needs
of the neighborhood community. At the end of Langley's presentation, there were
questions and comments from the audience. The general consensus of opinion from the
residents in attendance, was that Alternate "A", the opening of 100th Avenue, was the
most suitable to meet everyone's needs. However, they did stress that traffic restrictions
of some sort should be implemented; i.e., speed bumps, chokers or some device to keep
the speed down.
Mann closed the public hearing portion of the meeting.
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Committee unanimously recommended,Alternative "A" with cer4n conditions.
Committee's amendment to the recommended motion was that the City guarantee to
have either chokers or turn-arounds or something to prevent 100th Ave,from becoming
a full-fledged arterial.
Bennett stated that he will work with the neighbors on 98th Avenue to work toward
resolving the traffic problems in terms of improvements on 98th.
Meeting adjourned: 7:00 p.m.
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