Agenda - Public Works Committee - 02/16/2010

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Steve Jankowski From: ELTestino [eltestino @gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 10:43 AM To: Steve Jankowski; Mayor Ramsey; CM McGlone; David Jeffrey; Matt Look Subject: 142nd Ave. Road Closure Dear Mr. Jankowski, Mayor Ramsey and Members of the Council, This is in reference to your letter of February 5th, 2010 regarding the closure of 142nd Ave. stating a reply by email would be accepted by the City. In the event this is not so, please notify me so I can mail or deliver a hard copy. My position last year was against the closing of 142nd Ave. and it remains the same at this time. At that time, I gave my thoughts on various conditions so I won't go into all of them again. I do have one question and would appreciate if someone from the City can give me the answer. In October 2009, car counters were placed on 142nd Lane and 143rd Ave. The strangest thing I have ever seen was a counter placed on the dead ended 142nd Ave., after turning off Argon St. Did the City really think there would be traffic on 142nd Ave. or was this to show there was a decrease in traffic from October 2008 on 142nd Ave. now that it has been barricaded for almost a year? Or perhaps they needed to know how many pedestrians walked the road, it could have been placed there in error or for some other reason. I would certainly like to know the answer so I wouldn't have to ask again. Last weekend you could not travel safely on the snow covered curved section of 143rd Ave. leading to Argon St. due to cars parked on both sides of the street. This left one lane to meet the oncoming traffic and an extremely dangerous situation on a curve. On this same weekend we also had the pleasure of watching a snowmobile race up and down Argon St. like this was the County Park. The City also spends a great deal of time and money monitoring the barricades on 142nd Ave. sending City employees of all caliber to put them back in place. A suggestion: why don't the people who wanted these barriers, donate their time to take care of them? They're so ugly and don't add anything to the neighborhood or the city. It also takes one or 2 private plows hired by the city and a city truck to plow snow in that area. What a waste of taxpayers money when many residents have trouble paying their own bills these days. I do notice all those "colorful" traffic signs that were requested for Argon St. last year are now placed in many other Ramsey areas, even fairly remote areas.They are cropping up like flowers! I assume you think the residents of Argon St. cannot understand STOP, WATCH CHILDREN, YIELD etc. Do you think this area is the "Wild Wild West" and we're lawless? Last year, I do remember a council member actually saying the signs would be ignored here and wouldn't work. No wonder a resident, after the Council ruled in his favor to close the street, called residents who didn't agree with him ignorant in a letter published in the Anoka Union. In Andover on Round Lake Blvd and Bunker Blvd., there's a traffic signal and 2 others a short block after at the County Market Shopping center. Why is it the City of Ramsey doesn't make an effort to do the same here? Could it be the City has to contribute money and it's too busy buying Real Estate? Most of the year, Dysprosium St., was a disgrace with all the potholes that shook your car apart. Anyone coming to Argon St. had to be sent on a tour of that disgusting roadway. While petitions and opinions are accepted for other areas in Ramsey they were not accepted from Argon St. last year. I wonder if last years petitions and notes completed by residents,turned over to the City at Council meetings, including mine, might have been placed in a "dead letter file" never to be viewed again. Thank goodness there are copies. Petitions were ignored at that time in exchange for a hand count at an unrecorded 1