04-24-1995 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON APRIL 24, 1995 ( 92 - Old Beach Road - Continued) • Bruce Kelley of 2340 Fox Street said he was opposed to the closing. Kelley said the road has been there for years and residents moving in now should accept that fact. He noted the inconvenience of the closure with 3300 trips from cars daily, or one million a year. Kelley asked for the road to remain open and improvements made to the road. Richard Brown of 2685 Shadywood, noted the safety issue. Down at the corner of CoRd 19, there is a sharp left turn to be made. There are 18 driveways within 100' of the corner. If making a left turn, there is then a problem. There is also a problem with going from four lanes to two lanes. Brown also noted that the school bus goes on CoRd 19 and maybe CoRd 19 should also be closed. Brown felt more accidents would occur by making people go through the CoRd 19 intersection. This intensifies the situation and feels there is no justification to increase the traffic. Steve Bakke of 2765 Pheasant Road is opposed to the closing. Bakke presented a summary from the information meeting on Thursday. Many of the issues raised were discussed tonight. He reiterated the traffic count disparity. He noted the reality of the use of Old Beach Road for connection between CoRd 15 and 19. Bakke asked why the need for the trade off. Bakke felt the use of Old Beach Road was better for safety. He did not agree with the 1800 cars in a four hour period assessment. He said that would result in a car every 8 seconds. Bakke would like to see the traffic count reassessed. Bakke thought that special treatment was being given to the few people who live on Old • Beach Road and not to the many. Bakke noted other examples of safety issues, on Shadywood, on CoRd 15 and 19. Bakke said Kelly Avenue is also used as a short cut, and why not close this road also. Bakke said the issue was safety not inconvenience. Bob Gates of Navarre noted the tragic build -up going west on CoRd 19 with no left hand turn signal. He noted when coming from O'Sullivan's, there is a big traffic build -up. He also noted when traveling CoRd 15 going east, there is no turn signal either. Gates said the city should look at these areas before adding more traffic to the area. Margaret of 2540 Old Beach Road responded to the comment of receiving special treatment to new residents. She said she was not a new resident. Her 8 -year old daughter has not been allowed to use the bus. She cannot imagine walking or jogging on the road as cars zoom by. She asked that people not pretend there is no danger, especially with the many children on the road. ' • 6