2007-02-05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 Ms. Linda Ortenza, 1102 A Calhoun Street, said Calhoun is becoming increasing dangerous and she supports making it one way. Mr. Josh Levy, 1203 Belleview Avenue, said the consequences that are feared by opponents of one waying Calhoun are not likely to occur. He said he also wanted to make Belleview one way. He said one waying Calhoun is a small step and will bring good consequences. As there were no further speakers, the public hearing was closed. Dr. Brown said that the City benefits from people who take their time to run neighborhood associations and it is not fair to imply that they do so for self serving reasons. Referring to comments made by Mr. Gentry about the Albemarle County resolution, Dr. Brown said that the resolution he referred to was actually requesting that the County take out the diverter, not that they supported the “porkshops.” He also said that Mr. Gentry’s comments about Mr. Tolbert were unfair. He said he also disagrees with Mr. Gentry’s assertion that there is no problem now with cut through traffic. Dr. Brown asked that Councilors indicate which items they would like to bring back for action, which items they would like to have more information on, or have staff do additional study. Dr. Brown said we need to take into account public safety issues with one waying streets. Mr. Taliaferro said the Fire Marshall has discussed with him and Neighborhood Development Services one waying 7 ½ Street, and he feels it would be advantageous. He noted that the more traffic calming measures and speed bumps we have the more the emergency response time increases, and we have to find a balance. Disputing comments made by the public, Mr. Taliaferro said he thinks Council has the backbone to act. Mr. Lynch said most of these problems are driven by being a small city in the middle of a sprawling county. He said the real issue is we need more connections in the County without having to drive through the City. He said we are pushing on with the eastern connector and discussing the connector road from Fontaine to Sunset. He said it would be helpful to look at that at the same time. Mr. Lynch asked where City staff is with looking at the Cherry, Willard and Cleveland intersection. He said Calhoun Street and Franklin Road are different kinds of roads than 7 ½ Street and North Berkshire, and Calhoun and Franklin are intended to move more cars from one part of the City to another. He said we need a City grid and a County grid. He said 7 ½ Street has its own classification and is a safety issue. He said both 7 ½ Street and Berkshire are neighborhoods in between business areas. Dr. Brown asked if there is support for maintaining the status quo on the diverter. Ms. Hamilton asked if it is true that no traffic counts were done on North Berkshire, and if not, should that not be done so we can compare that with what happens in the future. Mr. Tolbert said he is not sure if traffic counts were done as that occurred three Traffic Engineers ago. He said the only way to get counts now would be to take out the diverter. He said counts can be done on the existing conditions. Dr. Brown suggested that Council consider 7 ½ Street and closing the medians at Birdwood and Hillcrest at one time as they are all safety related. He said Calhoun and Franklin could be considered separately. He said he would like a little more time to think about them. Mr. Norris said he is not convinced the turn around at the self storage business on Franklin is viable and would like to explore it further. He said he is not convinced of the merits of making 7 ½ Street northbound as opposed to southbound, and would like more information.