10-10-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 26, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 13 people using that road, something tragic is going to happen. He noted people move down that road at faster than 35 mph and it is not safe for anyone to enjoy what they all love in Orono and the trails in the area. He encourages the City Council to explore the opportunity for everyone to enjoy what they have in the City. Rick Hendell, owns the lot on 1735 Fox Street, and is opposed to this as well, it is in the highland, upland area, and there are many mature trees. He builds and remodels homes and he knows roads; this particular stretch has very steep edges and once they start to widen the road it causes a domino effect and he sees a lot of collateral damage regarding vegetation. He loves the idea of a bike path, there is not a bike path connecting anywhere around there and he feels widening the roads would encourage more people to travel in an unsafe area. The wider the roads get, the faster people go and he feels visibility is already not great on that road, he thinks this would encourage more dangerous behavior. He noted there could also be a lot of expense incurred with utilities, gas lines, etcetera, and he does not see it as necessary. He noted he is opposed to it. Anas Abukhadra, 1745 Fox Street, owns three lots on Fox Street and is against this because he believes it will not be safe or make it any safer for anyone else. He also believes it will create noise, take away privacy, and create more maintenance on the property. He is against it. Mary Wray, 1390 Fox Street, noted they previously lived on the corner of Brown Road and Fox Street (680 Brown Road S), and when her sons were younger they wanted to go biking. One day they tried to bike on Fox Street and it was incredibly dangerous how fast the cars were going by. She noted they also would not let them ride on Brown Road because the cars go by so rapidly and trucks drive down the middle of the road as they do not feel comfortable being on one side of the road. She thinks having lines down the center would be very helpful and noted groups of bikers going 25 mph are bypassed by cars going 50 mph. She is sure the police have reports of how fast they have ticketed people driving on Fox Street, and she does not know any additional ways to slow traffic. Ms. Wray noted the amount of traffic on Fox Street has increased with the development in Orono, she has seen it explode, and does not feel it as a safe place, therefore she is against bike lanes. In putting a bike lane in, they are saying it is a safe place for bikes when it is really not. She has talked to Edwards about people parking their cars to get to the Dakota Trail on the east side of Fox Street, they are getting kids out of the cars, getting bikes out, it is so dangerous and she is surprised an accident has not happened there. Joan Migliori, 1655 Fox Street, thanked the Council for hearing concerns regarding a potential bike lane. She would like them not to consider a feasibility study noting they have heard tonight that the road is very narrow, is constrained by vegetation, the Watershed, they cannot change the facts or environment but can improve the road’s surface. They could potentially put fog lanes which would help drivability but encouraging any type of pedestrian or biking on that road will be a dangerous endeavor. Mayor Walsh clarified that the Council approved the engineering bid to start work on the road. They have planned to repair the road and waited until they had the full budget available. When they redo roads, the City tries to widen everywhere they can, manage the water, make it as safe as it can be with striping, and this would be nothing different. There is not a trail plan, there is nothing that connects to these trails, and Mayor Walsh lives on Rest Point where it is about 12 feet wide and he understands biking on the street is dangerous. He thinks the City has done a good job in working with the Park Department and Three Rivers to make connections all around the area, and he thinks there are plenty of places to go and park. He