[Vision2020] Quality of Life or Why is a 3rd Street arterial a bad idea

[Linda Pall]

Dear Aaron, J. Ford and Visionaries,

What follows is probably more than you want to read but covers most of the
points about this project. Others are looking at interesting community based
alternatives that use the intersection for pedestrians, bikes, wheel chairs
and kids, among other things. I'll let them talk about that.

This is a rough summery of why this is a bad idea for the community as a
whole and does not achieve the results it proposes for traffic efficiency.
Take a look: this is not a NIMBY issue. This shouldn't happen to anybody's
backyard.

All the best and stay tuned to the meeting schedule,
Linda Pall
Moscow City Council

What's wrong with a Third Street Bridge and a Third Street arterial?

I hope J. Ford and others who may have tuned into the PW/F meeting Monday
afternoon saw and heard my statement that this plan is a stunningly bad idea
and should go no further. Unfortunately, I was in the minority. What was
salvaged was a comprehensive public City Council workshop where the proposal
can be explained and discussed one more time in public with ample time for
public involvement AND A DECISION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT TO CONITNUE
DISCUSSING THE PROJECT.

I do not believe it is valuable to pursue a project if it is not in the
interest of the community at large. Citizens should not have to mobilize for
meetings if the project is fundamentally flawed and should be taken off the
table. Next Monday, the Council will determine when this workshop will be. I
hope it can occur sometime in mid to late October.  I hope we can urge the
whole Council to abandon this project and focus on improving the
intersection at D and Mountainview and access from Sixth, White, and State
Highway 8 to Mountainview.

The proposal from the Engineering Department at the request of Mayor
Comstock to the Transportation Commission is to place a bridge across
Paradise Creek and extend Third Street to meet a new Third Street east of
Mountainview Road and carry this traffic, as an arterial from eastern Moscow
through downtown to western Moscow, Pullman and beyond.

The exact design of the bridge and the exact design of the roadway and
adjacent area is not clear. Some have said that only parking will have to be
removed in only some areas. Others have said parking would certainly have to
be removed and parts of the City's right of way used for sidewalks where
they do not exist and additional public space for vehicles and pedestrians,
primarily between Hayes and the creek on Third Street. Presently, Third
Street is classified as a neighborhood collector that functions to bring
traffic from or through a neighborhood to arterials.

Here are the major flaws as I see them:

LESS SAFE: The proposal wouold have arterial traffic going by one of Moscow'
s few protected elementary schools, destroying its walkability for children.
The addition of arterial traffic would make getting to East City Park much
more difficult and for those whose balls or frisbees go into the road, the
fetching process will be more dangerous. Older and disabled residents will
find the street more challenging for crossing and general use.

LIKELY LOSS OF TREES AND PLANTINGS: along Third from Washington to Hayes
some of the most marvelous maples find their home on what is one of Moscow's
premier tree-lined streets. At the SE corner of Third and Hayes, the
Mason-Cornwall House, on the National register of Historic Places derives
part of its charm and sense of place from the tall conifers on the north
side, close to or in the right of way. All of these resources are at risk
with arterial designation, through environmental degradation or the
necessity now or in the relatively near future for widening because of
traffic pressures.

LOSS OF PARKING: East of Hayes, the Third and Hayes apartment building, the
Elysian Apartments and some residences depend upon on-street parking for
their residences and certainly for their guests. Any proposal that involves
parking removal will negatively affect these residents. Parking actually
operates as a traffic calming device, making drivers slow down. Ironically,
its removal would make the street even faster and less safe. If it is not
removed, the value of efficient through traffic movement, as an arterial
ought to have, is greatly reduced.

NOT BEST PRACTICES IN STREET DESIGN: The proposal does not take advantage of
context sensitive street design, which would have generated streets that
meet neighborhood needs as well as community wide needs with the interests
of more than cars and trucks in mind.

ARTERIALS SHOULD NOT BE PLACED TWO BLOCKS FROM ONE ANOTHER: It makes no
sense and less engineering design sense to place an arterial through an
established neighborhood, two blocks away from one and four blocks from
another (6th and D Streets).

OPERATION PERFORMANCE IS NOT GAINED FROM THE BRIDGE: If the idea is to make
better, faster, easier circulation east west in Moscow, the bridge fails
this goals also. The average time difference going from a stop at Third and
Hayes AROUND along Hayes to Sixth, left on Sixth, and left on Mountainview
to the Third and Mountainview is 55 seconds longer than going directly to
the barrier from Hayes along Third, gaining 55 seconds while creating havoc
for the Lena Whitmore neighborhood.

LITTLE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: While the transportation Commission had this
on their agenda several times from March through June, it was not widely
advertised and even some City Council members did not know about the
proposal until it was a recommendation from the Commission. This is not
acceptable for a project with such impact.

NO TRUE COST CALCULATION OF THIS PROJECT: The project itself fails to look
at the true costs of loss of neighborhood amenities, cost of amelioration of
side effects to other agencies and individuals (more crossing guards for
Lena Whitmore, driving children to school to avoid unsafe pedestrian routes,
etc.), and dilution of home and property values as prized residential
property in and around the East City Park area.

Third Street has been an image of the town we value. It can continue to be a
great street for the people of Moscow. All of Moscow is concerned about good
traffic design. All of Moscow would like to see our growth add to, not take
away from our quality of life. A bridge across Third Street and its
accompanying arterial status is a stunningly bad idea if these values are
important to us.





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J Ford" <privatejf32 at hotmail.com>
To: <citizenament at moscow.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 1:34 PM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Quality of Life


> I watched channel 13's broadcast of the Public Works meeting in horror
last
> night as one member of the public after another came up and pleaded with
the
> City Council people and the City Staff NOT to put the bridge in or develop
> Third anymore than it is now - my sence of horror came from the plastic
> smile that was painted on Nancy's face and the total lack of empathy and
> understanding these Coucil folks like John Kimberling have and the
apparent
> disinfranchisement that seems to be there but also growing from the
majority
> of the Council.
>
> It was bad enough that the City Council (full) was "happy with this plan"
or
> "could live with this development" or "can go along with this new
> neighborhood" when the Council heard the Joseph Street plans even when one
> homeowner after another spoke up as to what is happening NOW to their
> property and what WILL happen if that development goes through.  But now
> this!
>
> What is it going to take to get the City Council to understand they are
> supposed to be representing the CITIZENS of Moscow, not the City Council's
> interests or the mayor's or the developers alone?  How many more
concessions
> are we as tax paying, voters going to have to make all for the "sake of
> development and growth"?  There are three main streets that lead from the
> west side of town to the east - and they are travelled far too fast by the
> young fools who just have to show off how big a truck, loud a music
system,
> fast an engine  they have.  I am getting tired of trying to cross a street
> and having to run because some fool won't take the time to let the
> pedistrians to get all the way across.  I am sick of the loud obnoxious
> vulger music they insist we all HAVE to be in on and I don't feel like the
> displacement of many long-time residents and/or their trees should be an
> expected "give-me" that we have to fork over to the university/college
kids
> in this town.
>
> If you need to be somewhere by a specific time - leave on time or with
time
> to spear to make sure you get there when you need to.
>
> There is NOTHING that has to happen in 10 minutes that will be worse for
you
> if you take the extra 1-2 mintues by "gerbiling" via another route.  If
> anything, the bridge will only complicate the traffic mess we live with
now
> by - as one person put it - funnelling the cars/trucks through Third
Street.
>
> And lets not forget the impact the bridge will have on Paradse Creek -
just
> how much "development" do you think that creek can take before it totally
> stops functioning?  I realize there are a lot of people who could care
less
> about a small creek, but really - those of us who do, will not let it go
so
> easily.  It, our way of life, the residents immediately impacted by this
> "development" will make it a long, hard fight to keep that area as is.
>
> J  ;)
>
>
>
>
> >From: "aaron ament" <citizenament at moscow.com>
> >To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> >Subject: [Vision2020] Quality of Life
> >Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 09:11:42 -0700
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Quality of Life
> >
> > The intention of the City of Moscow to connect Third Street to Mountain
> >View, and thereby funnel traffic through a quiet neighborhood and on
> >through the already congested center of our downtown should be a concern
to
> >us all.  It is a "Quality of Life" issue.
> > Only a small portion of our populace will be affected on a daily basis
by
> >the presence of the bridge.  Supporters of this bridge maintain that a
> >great number of residents of Moscow will benefit from the seeming ease in
> >travel the bridge promises.
> > If we allow ourselves to look past the obvious "Quality of Life" issue
> >that confronts a few residents of our city then we fail to protect the
> >"Quality of Life" for all who live in Moscow.  If we allow the "Quality
of
> >Life" that brought and keeps us here to be taken from us one small piece
at
> >a time we will find someday that we have had our
> >"Quality of Life" taken from us all.
> >
> >Aaron Ament
>
>
> >_____________________________________________________
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> >           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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