Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Residents along Mountain View Road turned out in force Tuesday, Sept. 20, to give the city Traffic Safety Committee an earful about careless drivers on that street.
Approximately 50 people were present as Glen Leonard of 1024 Mountain View led off the complaints with a detailed presentation on the traffic problems in the neighborhood.
Among those cited by Leonard were:
– A mislabeled speed sign in the Hawthorne School zone in which the times posted on the sign does not reduce speed until long after children are no longer present;
– The 35-mph speed zone on Long Street west of Hawthorne that only lasts for a few blocks befor e it drops to 20. Leonard said that when children walk to school in the morning, the sun makes it difficult for drivers heading east to see, and he called the 35 mph stretch ?ludicracy.?
– Lack of clarity as to where the 20-mph speed zone on Mountain View south of Sweet Home Junior High School terminates. Leonard noted that the zone starts from the top of the rise of 18th Avenue, but there is no clear signage to indicate to drivers what the rules are once they get past the crosswalk at 22nd Avenue.
– The fact that Mountain View is a substandard street for the traffic that flows over it, in spots stretching barely 8 feet wide. He noted that there are no sidewalks and nothing but a bar ditch and blackberry bushes in many spots where children or other pedestrians are trying to walk next to traffic.- Speeders on Mountain View.
His concerns, particularly about speeders and the lack of sidewalks, were echoed by neighbors.
Glenn Vogel, who said he has lived 13 years at 1105 Mountain View, said the city should fill the bar ditches that run along the road.
?There?s no bike lane or place to walk,? he said. ?You have to take your life in your own hands to weed eat.?
He said he?s seen three-wheelers and quads racing on the street ? ?and one kid was trying to do wheelies on a lawn mower.?
Jonathan Mattson, of 1010 Mountain View said he cannot send his sons, ages 9 and 6, to check the mail.
?They?re gonna get killed. It?s that simple,? he said. ?Someone?s child is going to die on Mountain View.?
He and others said that since new housing has gone in on Juniper, Kalmia and ot her side streets, the problem has gotten worse.
Ed Casto, 12, said he walks to the junior high with ?cars flying past me every day of the week.?
?High schoolers don?t care about speed limits,? he said. ?They only care how fast they can drive, how hard they can punch the pedal. I think some of them should get their licenses taken away.?
Leonard said that when the Police Department had a radar trailer located in front of Hawthorne School, he and his wife monitored cars going past it ?several times? and he said 80 percent ranged between 32 and 60 mph.
Residents at the corner of Mountain View and Ames Creek Drive said their intersection is particularly problematic.
Ray Kirby, of 569 Mountain View, said he?s seen ?younger drivers at that corner come by at 40 or 50 mph and actually pass people at the stop sign.? His comments were echoed by others who live at the corner.
Jerry Young, of 559 Mountain View, two houses from the Ames Creek intersection, said he counted eight cars rolling right through the stop sign on Mountain View at ?40 mph.?
Leonard said neighbors have met and come up with economically feasible solutions for some of the problem areas along Mountain View. They proposed creating three ?distinctive intersections? at Mountain View and 22nd Avenue, Juniper and Kalmia with crosswalks, stop signs and speed bumps to thwart drivers who ?flagrantly disregard public safety.?
?If people do not stop, they will instantly be reminded that there was a stop sign when their suspension bottoms out and their head hits the roof,? he said.
City officials and other Mountain View residents expressed concerns about the negative effects of speed bumps on emergency vehicles.
?Speed bumps are n?t the answer,? said Vince Adams, of 809 Mountain View, who said the stop signs might work at those intersections. ?It basically boils down to the Police Department. It?s their responsibility to enforce the law.?
Police Cmdr. Steve Young said he understood residents? frustration that officers aren?t more visible, but pointed out that the city has two officers on duty per shift, handling some 9,500 calls a year.
?We have calls coming in constantly,? he said. ?This goes on throughout the entire city. We all suffer some problems.?
He said that since the department cannot afford to have officers sit and wait for violators, residents ?have to be our eyes and ears.?
Committee members thanked the residents for appearing and said they would write a report for the City Council.
?I walk on Mountain View,? said me mber Alan Culver. ?I?ve mentioned the speed problem for a long time. It?d be nice to have the ability to have a machine gun at every intersection,? he added, dryly to chuckles from the audience.
Public Works Director Mike Adams said the city has applied twice to get curbs, gutters and sidewalks through state matching grants, but has been turned down both times.
He asked how much interest neighbors would have in pooling resources to get the work done from 18th to Long.
Leonard pointed out that that would cost ?millions.?
City Councilman Jim Bean, a former police officer, who chairs the Traffic Committee, said he will report the situation to his fellow councilmen.
?I?ll be making some recommendations to the council,? Bean said. ?Action will be taken.?
Bean and Cmdr. Young both urged residents to communicate th eir problems to the police.
?Discussion is fine, but you also need to come down to the Police Department,? Young told the audience. ?We are Sweet Home. We live in Sweet Home. We have kids. We have families. These are our concerns.
You need to come down and let us be part of that also.?