[Vision2020] Third Street Extension
Tom Ivie
the_ivies3 at yahoo.com
Tue Aug 23 11:07:01 PDT 2005
Pat:
All of the apartments on Grant have been there for
almost as long as I have been alive (not to give away
my age but I have some gray hair now). Heavy traffic
at Sixth Street and Hayes? Next time you are at that
intersection, time how long you have to sit there. I
guarantee it isn't more than 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Maybe the city could put a stop sign on the Sixth
Street part of that intersection!? Why not? That is
what they want to do at Third and Cleveland should
this proposal go through! This isn't just about cars.
It is about people! People who do more than just
drive. There are consequences for an entire school of
children to consider, dividing a neighborhood in two,
utilities to move, trees being removed, neighbors who
can't get out of their driveways at certain times of
day, as well as other issues that escape me at the
moment. One of the big differences between using D
Street and 6th Street from Mt. View is that where you
turn onto those streets there are no houses! At Third
Street you have houses at the corner of Mt. View.
Should Third Street be extended, I surmise that a
great deal of traffic will abandon 6th and D Streets
because Third offers a straight shot all the way to
Pullman. The homeowners at that part of Third right
now are all 70 years and older. You are going to make
it so that they are shut-ins? With the increased
traffic they aren't going to be able to get out of
their driveways, so then what? Walk? Please, please
tell me the city will put stop lights on Third so kids
and elderly can cross the street. They can't even
agree on if and where a light should go on Mt. View!!!
Even though the obvious choice is at D Street for the
school kids. I attended a transportation commission
meeting where I personally heard certain members state
that White & Mt. View would be a more obvious choice
for a light.
The idea of a thoroughfare is to control through
traffic in residential areas and promote public safety
by designating an arterial network to help channel
extraneous traffic AROUND neighborhoods. Connecting
3rd St. to Mountain View does just the opposite of
this because the area East of Hayes Street was not
designed to handle congestion. The street narrows
before Blaine, going west, and remains narrow until
Hayes. This creates a bottle neck which is
exacerbated by the fact that there is on-street
parking on the south side of the street between Blaine
and Hayes. The single family houses that are east of
Hayes sit closer to the street than those west of
Hayes. Also, the apartments that are between
Cleveland and Hayes sit close to the street (the
apartments west of Blaine are extremely close to the
street) and do not appear to present the opportunity
to widen the street (The current front yard
requirement for R3 and R4 is 20ft).
Don't forget that Moscow’s Comprehensive Plan –
Section 10 (Transportation) talks about the extension
of 3rd Street to Mountain View. However, by it’s
adoption of the Comprehensive Plan, the Council is
aware that “It’s desirability as a traffic corridor is
limited
by narrow widths in the section east of Hayes
Street
and by a lack of parking for a two-block
portion.” The Plan goes on to state that 3rd Street
is not ideal for heavy traffic. Section 10
(Transportation), as it relates to 3rd St., appears to
be in conflict with Section 4 (Central Business
District). “The flow of traffic through the downtown
area between eastern residential areas and the
university and other destinations on the west side of
town creates a problem of access to the central
business district. Third and Sixth Streets carry a
majority of the east-west traffic in the city, in
addition to providing major access to the central
business district. Distribution of a portion of Third
and Sixth Streets’ traffic to other streets is needed
to eliminate congestion on these streets and to
facilitate access to the central business district.”
The quality of life in residential neighborhoods can
be significantly affected by traffic issues. Any
significant increase in traffic would degrade the
environment for pedestrians, bicyclists, and nearby
residents.
--- Pat Kraut <pkraut at moscow.com> wrote:
> Tom: The traffic on Third to Blaine is growing all
> the time. It has to do
> with all those houses across Mt View and the
> apartments on Grant etc. It is
> harder to get out onto Sixth off Hayes because of
> the heavy traffic as it is
> one of the only streets that goes all the way to Mt
> View. Will there be
> changes if they extend Third, Of Course. But, change
> happens and older
> buildings get changed it is the way life goes. I am
> not opposed to the
> extension of Third.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Ivie" <the_ivies3 at yahoo.com>
> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 8:39 AM
> Subject: [Vision2020] Third Street Extension
>
>
> Third Street, from Washington to Hayes Street, is an
> effective neighborhood collector in its present
> configuration. It takes largely neighborhood
> traffic and some through traffic from downtown
> Moscow
> east to Hayes Street where through traffic makes a
> choice to go north or south. Some local traffic
> continues eastward across Hayes but relatively
> little
> through traffic chooses the two-block, narrow,
> tree-lined street to Blaine and beyond.
>
> Absence of sidewalks on portions of Third street
> from
> Hayes to Blaine, absence of tree lawns or planter
> strips between sidewalk and street, the narrowness
> of
> it, and the minimal setback of adjacent homes and
> apartments
> make this a slow connection for anything but local
> traffic.
>
> One of Moscow's historic landmark residential
> structures, surrounded by tall, old evergreens, the
> Mason Cornwall home, is on the southeast
> corner of Third and Hayes. Its siting on that lot is
> greatly enhanced by the tall evergreens on the lot,
> particularly on its northern edge, adjacent to
> the sidewalk and street. Any designation of Third
> Street as an arterial (however inappropriate, given
> the arterial designation of Sixth and D Streets
> within
> a few blocks) would require street widening and
> redesign of this narrow, two block segment. The
> effect
> on the historic structure would be considerable.
> The landscaping would be altered and portions of the
> lawn taken for street and sidewalk construction,
> destroying the setback that has given the
> home its historic setting and proportion in the
> neighborhood.
>
> Community design depends on such elements as
> building
> placement relative to other aspects of the
> neighborhood such as streets, sidewalks, other
> homes,
> etc. When the vacation of 80 foot rights of way
> throughout the older
> parts of Moscow was considered several years ago,
> the
> Historic Preservation Commission successfully
> opposed
> this move and requested notification
> from the Community Development Department of
> proposals
> that might impact the historic character of Moscow,
> from vacation requests to variances, conditional use
> requests, zoning, etc. Apparently, street design has
> not been included in this request for comment,
> despite
> its major impact on the character and siting of
> historic properties. Perhaps the Historic
> Preservation
> Commission should request consultation on these
> projects as
> well as a matter of course, as Community Development
> has done with other land use requests.
>
> Between Washington and Hayes on Third Street, the
> 1912
> Center, the Methodist Church and the Fort Russell
> Neighborhood National Register Historic District
> all would feel the impact of designation of Third
> Street as an arterial, through the reduction or
> removal of parking, the increase of traffic and its
> attendant fumes, shaking, etc., and possible
> widening
> now or in the future.
>
> Part of National Register designation requires local
> government to assess any impacts of projects that
> might use Federal funds. While the Third Street
> Bridge
> may or may not involve the direct use of Federal
> highway money,
> the practice of assessment is a sound one,
> especially
> as it involves such an important potential change as
> the designation of the street as an arterial and the
> installation of adjacent 'improvements' that would
> be
> required to sustain such usage.
>
> Once the City views the real impacts of the proposal
> for arterial status for Third Street, the unwise
> character of this option for the community as a
> whole
> as well as historic structures in and around it will
> become
> apparent. Protection of historic districts and
> individually designated structures from degrading
> traffic patterns is in the interest of all of
> Moscow,
> now and in the future.
>
> Please take the time to write to City Council to
> voice
> your opposition to extending Third Street.
> -Tom Ivie
>
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_____________________________________________________
> List services made available by First Step
> Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>
> http://www.fsr.net
>
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>
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