Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-08-15 MinutesSPACIAL NRRTING OF PROPOSED MASTER STREET PLAN HELD ON AUGUST 15, 1994 PLANNING COMMISSION Tom Suchecki, Phyllis Johnson, Ken Pummill, Jerry Allred MEMBERS PRESENT: Joe Tarvin, Bob Reynolds, and Gary Head MEMBERS ABSENT: Jana Lynn Britton and Chuck Nickle OTHERS PRESENT: Alett Little and Kevin Santos Joe Tarvin called the meeting to order and stated the meeting was a public hearing before the Planning Commission to take public comments regarding proposed changes to the Master Street Plan. He advised there would be no action taken at the meeting and there would be at least one more public hearing before the Planning Commission on the Master Street Plan. He requested a report from Jerry Allred, the Transportation Subcommittee Chairman. Jerry Allred explained the proposed plan was a compilation of numerous meetings held by the Transportation Subcommittee in conjunction with the staff and input from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. He stated the proposed plan was just a preliminary plan and noted adjustments would be made before the plan was presented to the full Planning Commission for vote and then passed on to the City Council. Kay Fairchild spoke in regard to the Rupple/Dinsmore extension in relationship to a development, Magnolia Subdivision, taking place north of Highway 62 and south of Dinsmore Trail. She noted Dinsmore, as it currently existed at the south end, would be a bottleneck if the development had an access onto Dinsmore. She requested the Planning Commission least consider extending Rupple straight • through (to the west of the Magnolia Subdivision). Bill Ashmore also expressed the need for a straight route through from Highway 16 to Highway 62 in the Dinsmore Trail area. He stated he would grant the necessary right-of-way to the City if the street were taken through the west end of his property to line up with the stubbed out street in Magnolia Crossing. Bill Jowers informed the Commission there were major drainage problems on Rupple Road and extending it straight up the mountain would make the problems worse. He expressed opposition to 46th Street being extended straight because it would go through his house. Mr. Tarvin pointed out the part of the street Mr. Jowers was discussing was already on the Master Street Plan and not a proposed change. Hank Broyles asked for clarification of the Township Road extension plans. Mr. Tarvin explained the proposed changes to the Master Street Plan in regard to Township included an extension to the east from Highway 265 to the point of intersection with Highway 45 and an extension to the west from Gregg Street through the area presently occupied by Meeks Lumber Company across University property to the point of intersection with the Highway 71 Bypass. He added funding was proposed on the capital improvements project list for Township from Highway 71B to Gregg (four lanes); from Highway 265 to the new school (two lanes); from the new school east to Highway 45 (two lanes) to be completed in 1999 at a cost of $1,200,000; and from Highway 71 B (College Avenue) east to Old Wire Road (two lanes) shown for completion in 1996. Mr. Broyles expressed opposition to the section of Township on the east side from Highway 71B to the new elementary school, including the section from Old Wire Road to Highway 265, being widened to four lanes. • 392] Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page 2 Mr. Jack Springborn explained he was present both as a member of the Transportation Circulation Committee and as a bearer of a petition against the extension of Township both to the east and to the west which was endorsed by a representative portion of the residents along Township Road. He stated he had completed considerable research in developing a city loop plan to loop traffic around the residential areas south of Rolling Hills Drive and east of College Avenue. He further explained he had done terrain research to support his opposition to through streets over Mt. Sequoyah and any measure which would increase Township Road traffic. He then read the petition in opposition. He requested information on the status of sidewalks and bike ways for Township. He added the matter of widening Township between College Avenue and Old wire Road had been discussed in the Committee and they were assured the road was to be two-laned. Mr. Dick Seddon contended Highway 265 between Highway 45 and Highway 16 should have the utmost priority for widening to 4 lanes because of existing dangerous conditions and the proposed 600+ unit development being constructed along the highway. He stated there should be some emphasis on widening Happy Hollow Road and improvements to the intersection of Happy Hollow and Huntsville Roads to accommodate the increase in traffic from the proposed Cliffs Drive. Tom Bramlett expressed concern regarding the proposed location of the intersection of Joyce Street and Gregg Street because of the steep incline and the affect on his property value on Gregg Street. • Harley Brigham expressed concern regarding the increased volume of traffic on Highway 45 with the new elementary school and new apartment complex on Highway 265. He suggested, as a solution to traffic problems in eastern Fayetteville, a street be put up the east Bide of Mt. Sequoyah to provide another access into the City at approximately the Hyland Park entrance. Jim Gattis stated he and another transportation professor, Dr. Alguire, had examined and reviewed the proposed Fayetteville Transportation Plan. He reported, based on their study and conclusions, they believed that, although the proposed Plan had a number of good elements, a lot was left to be done. He stated to adequately serve the citizens in the future, the Plan must accommodate future growth and not just present problems. He noted they needed to learn from the past and from the experiences of larger cities to not make the same mistakes. He contended an adequate grid of continuous arterials spaced roughly one mile apart which extended out into the undeveloped areas was needed. He noted the Committee had designated some fairly good arterial routes on their proposal and had referred to USGS topographical maps to try to avoid running roads through sides of mountains. He pointed out east/west corridors were needed and the Committee had proposed 15th Street, 6th Street, Lafayette/Mission, North/Mission, Township, and Joyce as potentials with the most usable and utilitarian being 6th Street, North/Mission, Township, and Joyce. He advised the Committee's proposed plan was a draft and more detailed studies would be required to identify adequate routes, but the process needed to begin immediately so the right-of-way could be preserved before development took place. Paul Hairston recommended a southern route in regard to the Joyce Street western extension to avoid the existing residential areas with the ideal location of a connection being at Van Ashe. He requested that, if the road did not connect at Van Ashe, the City propose to upgrade the approximate half -mile between the Joyce • Street/Wilkerson intersection and the Van Ashe/Wilkerson intersection. 39x3 I Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page 3 Alett Little, City Planner, advised the first extension of Joyce would be a two- lane road connecting to a two-lane. She stated over time the City would like to see both Gregg and Joyce widened if there was a need for it. Mr. Hairston asked why the southern route proposed from the Mall and the Joyce Street extension were both needed. Mrs. Little explained the proposed Plan was based on what the Committee thought the future would hold and pointed out changes might have to be made as development occurred. She advised at the present there were no plans for the road running south of Joyce Street to the frontage road because there was no existing frontage road in that area. She added the Joyce Street extension to the west was currently planned to be developed in conjunction with the Mall expansion and the new Wal-Mart store. Roy Fuller presented a petition signed by eighteen members of the three streets near the crest of the hill on Township Road with concerns about the steepness of the hill and traffic safety. Brian Runnels stated he lived on a dirt road at 2396 N. Crossover Road which would be Township if it were extended. He stated the existing Township did not line up exactly with the dirt road at the Highway 265 intersection and he was concerned that a large oak tree and his electric gate would have to be removed if the road was extended straight across. He contended that, if traffic lights were placed on Joyce or Township at their intersections with Highway 265, it . would alleviate a lot of the bottleneck traffic. Ms. Little suggested Mr. Runnels talk to the Engineering Department in regard to his gate location. She noted construction of fencing was allowed in easements as long as it was understood at the time the easement was required, the fence would be removed (the removal at the expense of the person putting the improvement in) with no guarantee of replacement. She added the traffic light at Township had been approved by the State Highway Department and was scheduled to be let in October and the traffic light at Joyce Street had also been approved although the design was not finalized for approval of the State Highway Department. Bob Brandon contended there should be an element in the Master Street Plan that addressed signaling of traffic on Gregg Street in the Wilson Park area. He pointed out the southbound traffic coming off North Gregg, which was four lanes, currently continued into residential streets in the Wilson Park area causing a traffic hazard. He stated the signaling for the southbound traffic on Gregg Street should be designed so that traffic could only turn east and west onto North Street to not be allowed into the residential streets. He noted that a means of redress was needed which stated that if a street was impacted by the Master Street Plan so that the density of use was different than what was intended, the City could be required to provide signaling, barriers, rerouting or whatever necessary to alleviate the problem. Patricia O'Learey stated she was representing the neighborhood of Lafayette Street which was proposed to be changed from a collector street to a minor arterial street. She expressed concern regarding the saturated traffic in the area and the saving of their neighborhood. Susan Gessler stated that she had been informed by several members of the • Planning Commission that Lafayette Street would never be widened. �a y • Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page 4 Kevin Santos, Planning Division, stated the reason for changing the designation of Lafayette Street to a collector was because that was the way the traffic flowed. Ms. O'Learey stated with the collector designation it would then have a wider right-of-way from 80 feet to 100 feet so the possibility of widening would exist. Terry Wilson stated it had been reported in the newspaper on July 25th the widening of Highway 45 between College Avenue and Highway 265 would include upgrading turn lanes. She noted that would take in East Lafayette Street which was the center of the Historic District. Ms, o'Learey expressed opposition to changing the designation of the street because of the potential for it being widened. Ms. Little stated a City was not in a position of ever saying "never". Mr. Tarvin, in response to Ms. Geseler's comments, stated no one at the meeting had the power or the authority to make the final decisions other than to state how they would vote. He advised there were nine members of the Planning Commission and noted they very seldom voted unanimously on something. He asked the audience to keep in mind that the Commissioners were only appointed for, at the most, four years, and when new members were appointed they had their own opinions. • Steve Drazsnzak commented it had been stated that the section of Township from College to Old Wire Road would be two lanes and asked if that involved widening. Mr. Tarvin stated the width of the street would be the same as that section between Old Wire Road and Crossover (Highway 265). He explained even though that was termed "two lanes", it was 36 feet back-to-back on the curb which was standard for an urban collector in the City of Fayetteville. He added the part of the roadway going down the hill was approximately 24 feet wide. Mr. Drazsnzak expressed concern that widening the street would bring his house closer to the street since he lived on Township. He expressed opposition to four lanes. Bucky Crouch reiterated the concerns expressed earlier in regard to Lafayette being used as an east/west corridor. He added widening the street would result in moving a sidewalk which would take out 808 of the trees on the street thereby devaluing their property. Shea Lastra expressed opposition to the widening of Township Road and the extension to the west and questioned how traffic would be controlled. Mr. Tarvin expressed concern regarding traffic on Township also and noted he had personally requested a "No Trucks" sign be posted which had been promised but had not yet been installed. Ms. Lastra expressed concern that added traffic would add noise and air pollution. She pointed out there was no guarantee the portion of Township from Old Wire Road to Highway 265 would not be changed to four lanes. She stated the City of Fayetteville did not plan ahead for development which resulted in the citizens now having to pay the price and noted that was not very professional. Mr. Tarvin explained there were principal arterials such as College Avenue which divided the segment on Township Road on the west side from that on the east side. 395; • Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page 5 He added Township between Gregg and College was connecting a principal arterial with a minor arterial. He explained that, since Old Wire Road was a minor arterial, the segment of Township from Old Wire Road to College Avenue had been designated a minor arterial as well in order to try to direct traffic in that direction. He noted Township from Old Wire Road east to Crossover Road (Highway 265) was designated a collector street. He contended, in his opinion, if Township Road was shown on the Master Street Plan to be extended from Highway 45 over to Gregg or to the Bypass, eventually it would become four lanes. Wilson Kimbrough stated he sympathized with most of the concerns expressed thus far, but requested the concerns be transferred to planning for the future. He contended the County and the City should work together in the development of land use planning outside the immediate concerns (designated growth areas on the east and west of Fayetteville). Henry Walker agreed with Mr. Kimbrough's statement that there needed to be an orderly plan outside the current concerns. He contended that, once east/west and north/south movement was planned for, they could then look at preserving and changing specific inner areas. He expressed concern regarding the potential danger of the proposed intersection of Highway 45 and Township Road, Erin Taylor expressed concern regarding the proposal to develop Township Road into a busy east/west corridor because of the potential for ruining the community activity and the safety of the persons using Gulley Park. Is Jerry Sweetser stated he was not opposed to Township Road being developed into an east/west corridor if other streets (such as Joyce Street) were extended across Highway 265 to relieve some of the traffic off of Township Road and Highway 45 (Mission). Cyrus Sutherland stated he was interested in the history of Fayetteville and preserving it's historical stability specifically on Lafayette Street. He contended the proposed widening of Lafayette would be very detrimental. He suggested traffic be routed around the historic districts rather than through them. Faye Doge stated trying to impose a grid of streets over an existing town was putting convenience of traffic over the town's personality. She contended a little inconvenience should be tolerated to save the town's personality. She expressed concern in regard to Rupple Road north of Wedington Road being designated a collector street because it would only collect over to Mt. Comfort Road and not serve any purpose. She also expressed concern for the preservation of the historical Mt. Comfort Church site which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lloyd Bowling expressed concern about the timely installation of the traffic light at Township and Crossover Road (Highway 265) because of dangerous traffic conditions. He requested the extension of Township along his property on the east side of Crossover Road be constructed in a professional manner. Drew Spurlock proposed a possible east/west access from the end of Happy Hollow Road to Rogers Avenue which would pick up a lot of the current traffic from Mt. Sequoyah to Lafayette. He contended this could be done without removing any trees (since there was an existing 50 -foot wide SWEPCO easement at that location) or houses (since the property was undeveloped). • John Green expressed concern about the danger (especially for pedestrians) in the area of Township Road due to traffic and the steepness of the grade. • Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page 6 Nancy Simpkins expressed concern regarding the impact of the intersection of the new portion of Township Road and Highway 45 on her neighborhood in Timbercrest Subdivision. She also expressed concern about trucks traveling the route and speeding. Mr. Tarvin stated that, according to the map, the intersection of Township and Highway 45 was proposed for the Fox Hunter Road location. Ms. Little advised bringing Township in at more of an angle to connect at a 90 degree angle with Highway 45 had also been discussed which would locate it west of Fox Hunter Road. Mike Darling expressed concern in regard to the safety problems in relationship to traffic from the overflow of Township Road cutting through his neighborhood (Terry Drive) to get to Old Wire Road. John Jablonski reiterated the concerns expressed earlier in regard to the dangers of truck traffic on Township Road. He contended there was not a purpose for extending Township to the west and that extending Township to Highway 45 gave the potential for trucks taking the route as a shortcut since the "No Thru Trucks" signs were not being enforced. Wendy Walker expressed concern regarding the steepness of the hill on Township and contended a better solution would be to develop a circle of traffic around the City for major traffic thoroughfares in order to leave the historic and • residential areas intact. Linda Lilly expressed concern that using Township Road to create a major artery through the residential neighborhoods would turn those neighborhoods into exactly what was now being criticized about College Avenue. Leonard Schapper advised he had experience teaching Civil Engineering specializing in Transportation Planning. He contended that, although a lot of the current traffic issues concerned mistakes made in the past, there was not enough in the 2010 Plan to prevent the mistakes from happening again. He suggested the Commission put more energy into the undeveloped planning areas around Fayetteville and specify the locations and the right-of-ways needed for the arterials in those areas. Mr. Springborn stated he would not be opposed to a grid concept, but advised other concepts, such as street design to control traffic, could be used. He pointed out they were discussing traffic congestion in a relatively small area of the City and expressed concern that they work toward solving some of the problems without a big impact on any of the neighborhoods. Don McFarland stated his business routed trucks around town all the time since the industry in the area was south, west, and north of town, there was no reason for trucks to travel Highway 45/Lafayette Street or Township Road in the residential areas. He asked them to consider what impact the added traffic (including trucks) would have on the residential areas. He requested information as to where an alternative connection to Highway 45 west of Fox Hunter Road would be located and what the time -frame would be on determining the routes. Ms. Little explained none of the routes on the map had resulted from route studies and advised that each street would have to go through a routing study • before the best location was determined. She noted the main concern was intersecting Township to Highway 45 with a 90 degree connection. She added, as far as the time -frame, the Master Street Plan was a 20 -year plan which would be 3971 • Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page 7 revised every 5 years. She further stated some of the routes would not take place until there was development pressure to show a need for the connections. She advised routes of necessity would have to be addressed earlier. Mr. Tarvin reiterated the purpose of the hearing was to get input concerning changes to the Master Street Plan. He explained the current Master Street Plan did not show Township Road extending east to Highway 45. He noted if the Planning Commission voted to add that extension to the Master Street Plan, chances were some day it would happen; but if the Commission voted not to add the extension, it would depend on development. He explained the extension was not definite at this time. Reggie Houser asked what the plans were for Township Road in relationship to the location of Willington Place. He requested they try to avoid running Township in the backyards of homes as had been done in the past. Ms. Little explained approximately half of the north boundary line of the Willington Place, was scheduled for an extension of Township if it ever were connected. She added that Timbercrest Subdivision extended too far north for Township to go in a straight line, so it would have to go to the north. Jim Gibson expressed concern about the Rupple Road/Dinsmore Trail proposed extension. He pointed out there had been recent improvements to Dinsmore Trail which he would not like to see torn up because of what might be an unsatisfactory attempt at a through street. He advised a better route might be farther to the • west along the boundary of Magnolia Crossing development as had been discussed earlier. Janice Scott stated an acre of her land on Highway 45 would be taken if Township was extended in the way it had been proposed. She requested they consider the persons who would be economically impacted by this particular extension. She also expressed concern about the proposed location of the intersection of Highway 45 and Township Road, Brian Runnels expressed agreement with the idea of having a circle or traffic around the City to avoid routing traffic through the residential neighborhoods and contended that type of loop needed to be planned for now. Mr. Tarvin advised there had been considerable discussion in the Committee in regard to a loop around the City with consensus going toward trying to mirror the Bypass on the east side of town with a tie in on the south near where the Bypass intersected with Highway 71 and on the north side in the vicinity of just south of the Mall to complete the circle. He reiterated Mr. Springborn's point that they needed to keep the distance across town in perspective (three miles east/west and five miles north/south) and preserving the atmosphere of Fayetteville by working around that instead of disrupting it. He stated the main concern of everyone seemed to be preserving their neighborhood and his feeling was one neighborhood was no better than any other. He explained the Commission was hoping to find a way to solve some traffic problems without causing others. Sherry Mains spoke in favor of a beltway or circle around the City to preserve the neighborhoods. Tom Suchecki pointed out most of the major thoroughfares in and out of the City and around the City were state highways. He advised the citizens needed to get active in finding out the views of state officials being elected concerning how • the highway dollars were being spent because nothing could be done on the highways without the State Highway Department's approval. 3q S Special Meeting Proposed Master Street Plan August 15, 1994 Page B Ms. Little advised another public hearing was tentatively scheduled for September 15th. There being no one else wanting to speak, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. 0 39C)