09-28-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION DRAFT 4 there is emphasis on young drivers and they can be a problem, she doesn’t think it is only 130 that age group. 131 Bob Bennett, 7829 Lois Lane, has been there for 25 years. He has seen improvement 132 since the last time he raised concern. He’s seen police and radar and the garbage truck 133 situation has improved. It is frustrating. Some of the young people causing a problem 134 may be good kids but their actions are not conducive to more harmony in the 135 neighborhood. He recently experienced a situation where someone did not stop at the 136 stop sign and then came up onto the grass and almost hit him. Mayor Rafferty asked 137 about the time of the problem and Mr. Bennett said it generally starts at 7:00 a.m. and 138 goes all day. He also thinks 30 mph is too fast. 139 Kevin Murphy, 583 Lois Lane, explained that working on this plan and addressing the 140 problem, he’s seen a marked improvement but some of the situation remains. That 141 portion he sees is not just about regulations but perhaps the need for a process to bring 142 people together. 143 Mayor Rafferty asked the City Engineer to comment on the addition of striping to the 144 roadways. Ms. Hankee explained that this road is considered a collector and so it 145 wouldn’t be unusual to see striping. She added that the striping is seen as a way to 146 address the concerns that the City is hearing from the neighborhood. She also added that 147 sometimes striping has helped with traffic calming. 148 Councilmember Ruhland asked if it also keeps people in line when they are going around 149 curves. He feels that sometimes the striping may make people think it’s a faster road and 150 cause them to up their speed perhaps subconsciously. He confirmed that 30 mph is a 151 state standard and the signage would just confirm that. Ms. Hankee also discussed that 152 some cities in Minnesota are moving to a 25 mph and some have put up signage to 153 indicate it . 154 Councilmember Cavegn asked if just this street could be a lower speed limit. Ms. Hankee 155 said staff could look at it but a change would set a new precedent and she suspects that 156 many areas will want the same change. 157 Public Safety Director Swenson asked the council to be mindful that this is a matter that 158 interests many residents and neighborhoods. He explained the seasonal nature of the 159 complaints received. He recommends a larger conversation about changing speed limits 160 rather than piecemeal. The data collected for this area is actually seen in many residential 161 areas of the City. If the council isn’t going to entertain speed limit changes then it doesn’t 162 make any sense to put up a sign because that is a basic understanding - if a road isn’t 163 posted then the speed limit is 30 mph. 164 Councilmember Lyden asked about the possibility of adding rumble strips? Director 165 Swenson remarked that one of the complaints in this area is noise and those strips would 166 actually cause more noise. 167 Mayor Rafferty noted changes suggested and suggested that some probably wouldn’t 168 work. There also appears to be a problem of verbal abuse. He doesn’t think the striping 169 will work. Common sense tells him that the nature of the street dictates even 25 mph 170 may be too high. 171