NAC 6 MINUTES – March 25, 2004
Present: Katherine J. Jones, Trish Cunningham, Sarah Finefrock?, Sgt. Hansell, Paul
Dienes.
Katherine moderated
while taking notes for this meeting.
Unfortunately, I did not catch the names of the neighbors who testified,
at least not as they testified. I have
attached a list of those present.
This is the second
meeting about the Wilson Place traffic calming proposal we have made to the NAC
6 residents. Many neighbors appeared
for the meeting. After an introduction
about the proposal to place stop signs at strategic intersections in the
neighborhood, we took the comments from neighbors in order of their desire to
speak. Here are brief paraphrases of
the statements of the neighbors who appeared.
Katherine apologizes if she misstated any comments made.
A neighbor from 7th
& Lee spoke first to speak. He had
been one of 60 people who had signed a petition previously to deal with traffic
in the neighborhood. He believes that
the problems are the result of the Fort Detrick gate on Rosemont closing. He supports the idea of the stop signs. Has 2 small children. He says they are very strict on base about
the speed limit. Thinks it would be
very important to have someone from Fort Detrick present at the meetings about
traffic problems.
Sgt. Hansell reported
that he has posted the traffic concerns for closer monitoring by the officers
in his beat, and they have been increasing traffic enforcement for the last
month. They have also staggered shifts
to cover more of the rush hour times.
He has also enlisted the help of the Directed Patrol Unit, and that will
be progressing for the next month.
Another neighbor spoke
of a petition of 26 names from the neighborhood, representing the parents of 14
children. They asked for speed bumps or
stop signs on Grant Ave. Since the
Sheetz was built, and since 9-11, traffic has increased considerably on
Grant. He wishes to protect the
residents from the increased traffic and increased speeds.
A neighbor suggested
installing rumble strips, but others think that is too noisy. Neighbors expressed some concern about the
slowing of emergency vehicles of the various measures that were proposed.
Some neighbors expressed
concerns about parked vehicles causing line of sight problems, and asked that
the streets be posted no parking at specific spots on Bolton and Grant. This is especially a problem on the curve on
Grant by Kidwiler Park. The problem is
aggravated when the parked vehicles are larger commercial vehicles. Sgt. Hansell suggested that vehicles over
one ton are not permitted to park in the neighborhood.
Someone suggested that
there be a restriction from coming out of Sheetz onto Wilson. Apparently, when Sheetz was proposed, there
was supposed to be a prohibition from turning left out of Sheetz onto Rosemont.
Another neighbor
complained about the speeding vehicles on 7th that come out of the 7th
Street Shopping Center. At Taney and
Homestead this is a particular problem.
There was general
consensus that the speeding problem is bad on Taney, Grant and Wilson.
Sgt. Hansell advised
that there are no unmarked cars available for traffic enforcement, but officers
can park in neighborhood driveways, if given permission. We suggested getting neighbors to volunteer,
and Sgt. Hansell is going to develop a form for neighbors to use to volunteer.
The police are also
working on trying to purchase cameras for traffic enforcement.
Someone suggested that
we seek some contribution from Fort Detrick for traffic enforcement.
Someone proposed
installing the longer type of speed bumps.
One of the neighbors
then made a proposal to move forward with the proposed request for stop signs,
speed bumps strategically located, paint on corners to mark where vehicles
cannot park, and installing crosswalks on 7th and Rosemont for
pedestrian traffic. Phase one of our
proposal will be to have stop signs installed by the last day of the school
year. Phase two will be to get longer
form speed bumps installed.
Neighbors present during
the meeting:
Jason Kokoszka j.e.kokoszka@att.net
L. Joe Myers LjoeM@att.net 301-600-3541 240-225-7749
Charlene Albertson hillal.gal@fcps.org 301-682-3584
Nancy Molesworth 301-662-5506
Gerald H. Smith 301-662-1140
Dan Beins dkbeins@adelphia.com 301-663-1773
Dan & Lisa Huffman uldan@yahoo.com 301-846-0966