03-08-1995 SPECIAL WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Reasons to not adopt a 32 -feet street standard for residential streets: 1. Because it wasn't built that way in the first place. House setbacks, storm sewers, fire hydrants, driveways, landscaping, etc. were based on current road widths. 2. We already have a problem with storm water run-off. Increasing impervious surfaces by nearly 15% or more will increase demands on storm sewers. Calculations: 32 - 28 avg. = 4; 4/28 = 14.4% increase in impervious surface. This is greater on some streets, Knollwood measures at 27', increase impervious surface by 18.5%.) 3. Costs increase with more asphalt laid, more preparation from moving fire hydrants, storm drains, cutting back driveways, cutting into front lawns to bring to street grade. We will be assessing a portion of these costs. When homeowners see the figures, they will question the wisdom of widening their street because of these excess costs. 4. We already prohibit overnight street parking. I seldom see streets used for parking now. Everyone is using their driveways. Wider streets will mean some homeowners driveways will be shortened from 2 - 3 feet, assuming widening is spread equally between two sides. If street widening is not equally done then driveways could be noticeably shortened on one side. We are not a city of three car garages but many families have lots of vehicles to park. Why have wider streets for parking when we don't have a problem but we do have a problem with the amount of off-street parking. 5. Speed. Everyone witnesses the avg. speed on Long Lake Rd. as being about 10 mph faster than before widening. It's hard not to drive faster on wider roads, they are designed for faster traffic. 6. We are a residential community. Fortunately we do not have all the cut-throughs Re in Spring Lake Park. The focus should be on providing what the residents who live here want and need. t-