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Holts Summit Council holds off on road issues
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By CHRIS WALLER
The Fulton Sun
HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. - Roads were the topic of discussion at this week's city council meeting here, but two ordinances involving the future use of roads in the area were tabled for future sessions.
The council debated Bill No. 2008-64, which would reduce the speed limit in the Lake Park Subdivision from 30 mph to 20, but ultimately decided not to vote on the issue in order to gain more input from the community.
“They are going to hold a public hearing at 6:30 on August 11 to see what the residents in that sub division want to do about this,” City Clerk Cheryl Fletcher said.
Alderperson Jennifer Fletcher requested the change on behalf of residents in the area, and in response the council requested the police department conduct a traffic study to determine if a change was necessary.
Police Chief Victor Pitman said the police used a pneumatic tube system to find out the volume of traffic in the area as well as the amount of vehicles that were in fact speeding.
“What the equipment does, is when you set it up across the roadway it tells you the direction of travel a vehicle is taking and based on axel spacing and other factors ... the probable Department of Transportation classification of that vehicle,” he said. “It tells our computers the class, direction and the speed of the vehicle and then it date and time stamps every vehicle that goes across it.”
The study was conducted for one week. In that amount of time, there were a total of 2,858 vehicles that crossed the survey on Northrup Avenue, and of that number 2,571 drivers were traveling at or under the speed limit.
Pitman noted that of the vehicles that were speeding, 255 were traveling less than five miles above the posted speed limit, meaning that “an average of less than five vehicles a day were exceeding the speed limit more than five miles over.”
He also said from the information gathered in the study, the police department recommended to the city council that no reduction in the speed limit be made.
“Based on that the recommendation in our report was not to reduce the speed limit but to look at other alternatives to deal with the perception that there is a speeding problem,” Pitman said.
Ultimately the decision is up to the people of the subdivision and the board of aldermen, but Pitman warned that if a change is made, the Holts Summit Police Department would enforce the new law.
“If the citizens in that area want to have 20 mile speed limits there and the board decides it, that is their authority,” he said. “In a residential area it is very difficult to do 20 miles an hour, and by increasing it a vast majority of traffic is going to go more than 20 miles an hour.”
The second issue that was also delayed involved Hibernia Street.
Right now the street is closed to the public, but Fletcher said a few citizens have asked for the road to be opened for thru traffic.
“They were talking about opening it to one-way traffic and making it open to parking on one side to make better access to the ball-field and apartment complex that are on that road,” she said.
A public hearing was scheduled before the meeting to gain public opinion, but due to lack of attendance, the board decided to send a letter to the homeowners on the street and wait for input before deciding on the issue.
The council debated Bill No. 2008-64, which would reduce the speed limit in the Lake Park Subdivision from 30 mph to 20, but ultimately decided not to vote on the issue in order to gain more input from the community.
“They are going to hold a public hearing at 6:30 on August 11 to see what the residents in that sub division want to do about this,” City Clerk Cheryl Fletcher said.
Alderperson Jennifer Fletcher requested the change on behalf of residents in the area, and in response the council requested the police department conduct a traffic study to determine if a change was necessary.
Police Chief Victor Pitman said the police used a pneumatic tube system to find out the volume of traffic in the area as well as the amount of vehicles that were in fact speeding.
“What the equipment does, is when you set it up across the roadway it tells you the direction of travel a vehicle is taking and based on axel spacing and other factors ... the probable Department of Transportation classification of that vehicle,” he said. “It tells our computers the class, direction and the speed of the vehicle and then it date and time stamps every vehicle that goes across it.”
The study was conducted for one week. In that amount of time, there were a total of 2,858 vehicles that crossed the survey on Northrup Avenue, and of that number 2,571 drivers were traveling at or under the speed limit.
Pitman noted that of the vehicles that were speeding, 255 were traveling less than five miles above the posted speed limit, meaning that “an average of less than five vehicles a day were exceeding the speed limit more than five miles over.”
He also said from the information gathered in the study, the police department recommended to the city council that no reduction in the speed limit be made.
“Based on that the recommendation in our report was not to reduce the speed limit but to look at other alternatives to deal with the perception that there is a speeding problem,” Pitman said.
Ultimately the decision is up to the people of the subdivision and the board of aldermen, but Pitman warned that if a change is made, the Holts Summit Police Department would enforce the new law.
“If the citizens in that area want to have 20 mile speed limits there and the board decides it, that is their authority,” he said. “In a residential area it is very difficult to do 20 miles an hour, and by increasing it a vast majority of traffic is going to go more than 20 miles an hour.”
The second issue that was also delayed involved Hibernia Street.
Right now the street is closed to the public, but Fletcher said a few citizens have asked for the road to be opened for thru traffic.
“They were talking about opening it to one-way traffic and making it open to parking on one side to make better access to the ball-field and apartment complex that are on that road,” she said.
A public hearing was scheduled before the meeting to gain public opinion, but due to lack of attendance, the board decided to send a letter to the homeowners on the street and wait for input before deciding on the issue.
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boxergal wrote on Jul 22, 2008 12:01 PM: