Minutes - Public Works Committee - 06/17/2003

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City Engineer Jankowski noted that he received an e-mail from Curt and Cindy McDaniels supporting the reduced speed limit. Larry Murray, 1 7211 Tiger Street N W, R amsey, stated that he thought it was a great idea to reduce the speed limit. Bob Letander, Tiger Street NW, Ramsey, stated that he was in favor of the speed reduction to 30 mph. He explained that they have a lot of small children in the area. He explained that if you take the curve from Armstrong at a normal speed of 15 mph it takes 40 seconds at 55 mph to get to the end of the street and at 30 mph it takes 55 seconds. Bob Tomesheski, 17220 Tiger Street NW, Ramsey, stated that he was opposed to the speed reduction. He stated that the number of residents in the direct segment of Tiger Street is kind of misleading because the street is nearly 1/2 mile long. He questioned if there had been a traffic study done on the road because he did not believe that there were more than eight cars that go down the street. When the traffic does go down the street that is all he can hear. If children are on the street they don't belong there. It is more of a rural road and he would prefer to see the speed limit stay the stone. He felt that the roadway supported the existing speed limit. Councilmember Elvig stated that he took the opportunity to drive down the street two different times and he did agree that the road does hand 55 mph traffic, but in order to get to 55 mph you have to step on the gas pretty hard. The other issue he sees is that Ramsey is unique in a lot of ways and the problem they have is connectivity between neighborhoods. When looking at the different areas it is difficult to get to other neighborhoods without using Tiger Street therefore he would support the reduction in speed. Councihnember Cook stated that he lives just north of Tiger Street and travels the road eve~-yday. He sees people riding bikes, jogging, and accessing the trail to North Fork. The main use for Tiger Street is to provide access to the residents along Tiger Street or to access the neighborhood to the north. There is a lot of traffic going through the area and it is a minor stretch of road. He agreed that kids aren't supposed to be on the street but kids do go after balls and he would prefer to have traffic bc at 30 mph rather than 55 mph. He did not see any adverse impact with reducing the speed limit. Mr. Tomasheski suggested constructing a trail to keep people off the road. Councilmember Cook replied that that is something that could happen in the future. Councilmember Zimmerman stated that he understood the concerns with kids and their safety, but one concern he had is that are they sure that people will drive 30 mph because it has been designed for 55 mph. He thought somewhere between 30 mph and 55 mph would be more appropriate. Public Works Committee/June 17, 2003 Page 4 of 9