The City Council and the Mayor heard from several residents of the City concerning the amount of traffic and the speed of the traffic on the east and west sides of Country Club Drive. The roads under discussion are highlighted in the map below.
Here are the meeting notes courtesy of council member Jessie Schoenfeld:
- Ron Campbell – East side of Country Club Drive
He doesn’t think a wide plateau [table top] speed bump is necessary. A flashing speed sign would be good.
- Lee Orton – Country Club Drive
He would like to see speed bumps, maybe 2. One by the church and 1 by the curve in the road. He is concerned for the children in the area in the morning hours.
- David Jakeman – East Country Club Drive
He said the people who speed there are “repeaters”. He is concerned for the neighbor kids’ safety in the morning. He is in favor of speed bumps.
- Dave ? – House Manager at the Country Club
He explained he has posted messages at the club about the concern for speed and safety on the road. He believes the problem is universal. He assured the neighbors that he and the club want to be of service to the residents and is also concerned with safety.
- Lynn Bullock – East Jerling Drive
He believes the flashing speed sign and the speed limit sign have helped curb speed by his house. He said one problem is that the drivers go through the stop sign going west on Country Club.
- Rich Mathis – The Cottages
He explained that it is difficult for him to see other cars when he is coming out of the cull-de-sac. So if other drivers are traveling too fast, it makes it difficult for him to navigate getting onto Country Club safely.
- Amy Frederickson – 11000 North
She feels the speed limits in the area are too high.
- Larry Walker
He asked about the impending “East/West Corridor”
- Tim Heyrend – Castle Pine Drive, Highland City Planning Commission
He presented a table on stopping distances and a standard from West Jordan (where he works as an engineer) that indicates that the posted speed on west Country Club Drive and may be too fast for drivers to navigate the curve going west and for other drivers to see them and pull onto Country Club safely—especially from Castle Pine Drive where it is on the end of the curve. He mentioned a speed limit of 20 mph would be more appropriate for the road.
- C.J. Baker – East Jerking
He thinks there should be more awareness of the speed limit by perhaps using more speed limit signs and a permanent speed sign. Maybe we should have stop signs at all the intersections along Country Club and signs that tell the right-of-way. He suggested that the City have an occasional officer on site and awareness posted in newsletters from the Country Club. He feels that speed bumps are not the answer to the problems as they affect all of the people in the area.
- Dave Dorton – West side of Country Club
He asked that the county club take some initiative in helping with the speeding problems along Country Club Drive.
- Ed Barfuss – West side of Country Club
He said that a thousand plus cars go past his house every day. He wants to collect more data on the situation.
- Police Chief Brian Gwilliams
He explained that he had counters out on Country Club Drive for several days during September. On the 24th of September the department counted 450 cars going one way (which seemed to be the highest number of cars per day of the days the counter was out) and that the average speed of the cars was 26 mph
- Councilman Rod Mann along with Justin Parduhn from the City
Explained to those in attendance that some study had gone into the pricing of features that could be used in helping with the speed of cars traveling on Country Club:
- For a flashing speed sign: ~$ 2,500
- For a rolling speed bump: ~$ 3,500-4,000
- For a tabletop speed bump: ~$ 7,500-8,000
Rod voiced his initial thought that the least cost/least obtrusive approach should be tried first (i.e. flashing speed sign).
The meeting concluding with the mayor and council agreeing that more town meetings or public hearing would be held before any final decisions are taken. Thanks to all who attended and added their voice.
Once again, the wealthy families and those in more expensive homes get the attention while those of us who have been asking for a radar detector (just for a few days) on our road for years get nothing. Our road is 25 mph, too. Most people who use our road as a through street go 30+ mph. It seems like some people's children are worth more than others in this town. Wish it wasn't so, but it is.
ReplyDeleteThe neighborhood came to a council meeting and asked from the county council to help. A meeting was organized as a result. I am pretty sure that the council would be just as responsive if your neighborhood did the same.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the summary Rod.In regard to TJ's comments, it is always questionable to assume facts not in evidence. This particular neighborhood has worked together to address more than one issue successfully. There is no reason to believe that this model could not be as successfully in any neighborhood. If the issue is a big enough concern for the neighborhood, they can address it together.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is simple. We need east/west access in Highland City. It seems people are speeding around from one side to the other. There are schools and recreation on both sides hurrying people in their direction. This should be a through-street, not a double dead end. We need more corridors, not just one or two.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting Nannette. There is one east/west corridor planned right now which will be cross Alpine Hwy at Canal Blvd 9860 N. One of the pending items is getting an approved development plan from the Development Center/State. This is in process but I have no idea how long it will take. The speeding on Country Club may be impacted by the lack of another east/west corridor but I would think that most of it has to do with people just not paying attention, hurrying to and from the Country Club, and teen age drivers.
ReplyDelete