Minutes - Public Works Committee - 06/20/2006

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Chairperson Elvig informed the residents this has been a concern to him. He is the ward representative in the area and he has spent a lot of time in this park with his kids. This neighborhood has had a 100% increase in traffic; he does not think the problem is traffic, but that it is the parade of traffic at certain times. The roads in this area are the walking trails. He explained they need to have a back exit to the park and to the neighborhood as a safety issue. Councilmember Cook asked if it was determined how much of the traffic in the study is going into the neighborhood. He noted according to the study, there were over 2,000 cars in and out of the neighborhood, but only 248 cars in and out of the park. Bill Hoppenrath, 16301 Uranium Street NW, stated there is not traffic going by his house, but he feels for the rest of the neighbors. He questioned if the traffic count could be wrong. There was discussion of the traffic study and the traffic flows into the neighborhood. Chairperson E1vig clarified there is agreement that there are about 200 additional cars per day traveling through this neighborhood than normal, presumably attributable to the athletic fields at Elmcrest Park. Mike Dealing, resident on 163rd Lane NW, stated it seems that there is a lot more traffic coming out on 164th and 163rd in the evening when the sun is going down, than coming in earlier in the evening. His guess is that everyone is leaving at the same time and making a bottleneck when using their road as an outlet to get out. He suggested making Quicksilver bigger and wider so people would be more comfortable in leaving that way, which is a much more direct route. Chairperson Elvig explained the entire park and this whole system is not finished yet. Quicksilver is only a temporary road, but his understanding is that the Quicksilver entrance will remain as it is. The route that is temporary is from the opening to the park, which is suggested to swing to the east through a future development, and then back down to the park. He asked staff whether an improvement at Quicksilver and 16ih would be a permanent improvement. Public Works Director Olson responded in the affirmative. Mr. Dealing asked if the City is considering opening the park up directly to Highway 47. Councilmember Cook responded in the negative. He noted to the south off of 160th Lane there is a dead-end into the land next to the park. He suggested this would be a good location for a third access. Diana Feigum, 6321 163rd Lane NW, suggested closing the gates at 10:00 p.m. She explained she does not see the speeding as a problem, but there is faster traffic late at night, which is probably from kids going down that way. Chairperson Elvig asked if there are other gated parks in the City. ParkslUtilities Supervisor Riverblood indicated this park was gated until it was developed. Public Works Committee / June 20, 2006 Page 10 of 15