02/14/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. Mr. Bradley moved to open for a ten-minute period public testimony. Mr. Lieuallen seconded. The motion was defeated with eouncil members Qbie, Williams, Hamel, and Smith voting no; Bradley, Haws, Lieuallen, and Delay voting aye; Mayor Keller voted no, breaking the tie. Mr. Williams said he felt that the concern for the noise and safety of those living in the area was a legitimate concern. He questioned whether trucks were using these streets before the houses were built in the area, or whether the houses and resi- dential area was established before the trucks started moving in the area, indicating that perhaps the people who moved there were aware of traffic moving through the area. Mr. Don Allen, Public Works Department, indicated the roads in question have held a variety of classifications over a period of years. He said the streets were zoned as a residential area, but traffic was moving through the streets prior to the area being annexed to the city. The increase in truck traffic had developed over the past few years because of the development of other arterials in the area. He said that in 1962 it was correct that there were more residential uses of the street than trucking uses, and very little truck traffic was held on Bertelsen and Elmira. - Mr. Bradley replied to Mr. Williams. question that he felt it was not a matter of residents purchasing the property in the area knowing the trucks were there or that trucks have a pre- emptive right to be there. He felt it was a balance question, not a question of who was there first. Mr. Allen said that for a long time the staff and people in the area had been led to believe that Highway 126 would become a reality and would provide substantial relief for the traffic in the area. The people had developed in that area, based on that premise. Mayor Keller asked Mr. Allen if he believed the improvement of 11th Avenue would solve the problem. Mr. Allen said it would solve several problems and facilitate traffic movement. Mayor Keller asked if any other alternatives had been considered, to which Mr. Allen replied that staff was still exploring the poss- ibility of building a facility which would be lesser than Highway 126, and not quite a freeway, but would still not be in the immediate future. - Mr. Williams likened the situation to development of an airport where people move in and complain of the noise so close to the airport and then ask that the airport be closed. He indicated his concern about the present energy shortage and said he was not sure that the industries should be made to absorb the costs of alternate routing. He indicated a concern for the order of development in that area, saying that if it is traditional and accepted that trucks use the streets in the area, he is not sure it would be prudent to deny that use. He said the costs involved to both industry and society are complex. 83 2/14/77--7