Agenda - Council - 09/12/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE REPORT ON NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING WITH DYSPROSIUM STREET N.W. RESIDENTS By: Steven Jankowski, City Engineer Background: At the July 12, 1994 meeting, Mrs. Valerie Hoeller presented the Council with a petition signed by 93iresidents of the Flintwood Hills neighborhood. Specifically this petition requested the~placing of four-way stops and speed bumps on this segment of Dysprosium Street N.W. between County Road #5 and County Road #116 to control speeds. At the July 26, 1994 Council meeting, I reported back to the Council the accident history along this segmen~ of Dysprosium Street N.W. and reviewed a number of speed control measures wh[*ch might be considered. At that meeting, Council felt that the installation of sidewalk mig4~ t be the most appropriate measure to address the neighborhood concerns. I reported bacl~ to the City Council the cost of installation of sidewalks at the August 22, 1994 meeting.~ at which time the Council directed me to solicit input from the neighborhood on the sidewalk and other speed control measures. In response td that directive, all residents of the Flintwood Hills subdivision were invited to a meeting or~ September 1, 1994, at which Police Chief Auspos and I reviewed the concerns expj'essed with regard to speed along the street. We also reviewed the various speed control[measures which were discussed with the Council at the previous referenced meetings. Thee citizens in attendance at this meeting rejected the concept of sidewalks as a measure to ~rovide additional safety along the street. They cited the neighborhood pedestrian mlffic which needs to cross the street as a concern which sidewalks could not address. On Ithe other hand, City S,~aff f, elt that cul-de-saccing Dysprosium Street N.W. was not a realistic solution and that stop signs would not produce the desired results and may not be j~ecessary if other speed control efforts were successful. There was a consensus between citizens and staff on the placing of a. crosswalk at 142nd Avenue N.W. to facilitate pledesrrian traffic to the park area to the west. In addition, citizens and staff agreed that .~eed humps would be an effective method of reducing speed along this segment of rife street. This meeting concluded with City Staff agreeing to meet again on Thursday, S ~e~ptember 8, 1994, in order to review, with the citizens, a result of a speed survey that w~uld be conducted during the week of September 5. Copies of these available speed studie~ are attached to this case. The second meeting would also provide an opportunity f6r citizens, who had conflicts with the September 1 meeting, to have input on the issue. Observations: The results of the speed study, conducted on September 6, clearly indicate that a small percentage of street users are traveling at an inappropriate speed. During a typical afternoon period from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., roughly 70 vehmles are exceeding the speed limit by 10 mj"les per hour, and 16 are exceeding the limit by 15 miles per hour. Although the study do~s suggest that a reasonable speed on the street is somewhat higher than the existing 30 ~iles per hour limit, since the 85th percentile speed is approximately 39 miles per hour. G!ven the unique nature of the street, in that unlike most collector streets, Dysprosium fi`as a larger number of homes having direct access onto the street, Staff feels some speed cbntrol measures are warranted. To date, the ~ity of Ramsey has no experience with the gse of speed humps, however, the literature indigates that their use will be effective in reducing speed. The cost of installing