12/15/98 Public Works Committee - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tom Schreiner, 6121 - 144th Lane NW, Ramsey, concurred with Mr. Kaeppe's statements about the traffic and speed being a concern because of young children in the area. Ms. Peterson felt that visibility is indeed a problem. Mr. Jankowski stated he would like to address concerns from the community. It appears the neighbors are not as concerned about assigning a right-of-way. The time between vehicles is about 3.5 minutes, so it is not likely there will be people approaching the intersection at the same time. One of the things that's very difficult about placing stop signs, especially for speed control, is the methods that are effective at best are effective for only a short time. Patrolling the area is the best speed control method and stop signs are definitely discouraged from being used for speed control. It has been found that speeds increase mid-block following a stop sign. Speed humps are a liability as they can cause accidents, are difficult to plow, are inconvenient, and the effectiveness of speed humps depends upon the type of vehicle traveling over them. Mr. Jankowski stated he would propose some strong consideration be given to installing sidewalks. There are a lot of negatives with them such as shoveling, making the yards smaller, and they require maintenance, however, they do separate pedestrians from traffic and that makes it worth all the negatives. Sidewalks put you back eight feet from the traffic and that gives you reaction time. It also gives kids a place to ride bike freely. Mr. Kaeppe stated that "kids are kids" and a sidewalk is "one more thing to walk on". Fences would be good, but he felt that not everyone could afford a fence. He suggested that people are not really "thinking about driving" but if there's a stop sign, that's something that will make a driver think of what he has to do. Councilmember Zimmerman commented that a traffic count was done on C.R. #116. Mr. Jankowski added that a speed study was done. There are speeders, e.g. one car was traveling at 39 miles per hour (mph) and another at 34 mph. There was a very small sampling of speeding because. of the low volume of traffic. In one hour and 15 minutes, there were only 10 vehicles that passed and most of those were observing the speed limit. Jennifer Schmeling, 6120 - 144th Lane NW, Ramsey, asked why a stop sign was put on Tungsten Way and T.H. #47. Mayor Gamec responded that the City takes into consideration the volume of traffic. We have to make a decision so we have to go by the reports that staff gathers. There is probably about four to five times more traffic in that particular area. He noted that in a lot of speed studies conducted in neighborhoods, it turns out to be mostly local drivers who are the offenders. Ms. Peterson argued that the volume of traffic may not be high but that one-third of those counted were speeding. She asked what her options are. Public Works Committee/December 15,1998 Page 2 of5