The Bridgeport, 30th Court, Virginia Street non-issue
The Village Council meets tonight in the Glass House in Peacock Park from 7 to 9 pm.
There will be a discussion on whether the Village Council should request a deferral on any decision from the City or County on the Bridgeport traffic calming device until after the public hearing on December 18 at that Village Council meeting.
Some council members feel that they are being pushed into voting on the issue tonight, but many would like to find out exactly what is planned for the streets in question: Bridgeport, 30th Court and maybe Virginia Street. The December 18 meeting will have experts present who will speak on the issue and explain what is actually planned and it will also be at City Hall where more people can attend and it will also be televised and streamed on the internet.
Meeting at the Glass House is sort of like meeting in the dark and it seems like a bad thing to be voting on important things when the public is not getting a 100% shot of seeing what is going on by attending the meeting, seeing it on tv or seeing it on the internet. I think that is fair for people to have those options.
Many Virginia Street residents don't want traffic diverted to their street from US1 and they feel that if Bridgeport gets a traffic calming device, it will send people over to Virginia. But is it a bump to slow traffic, an actual closed street or a traffic circle that is being planned? That is why the December 18 meeting should happen before any votes. How can the council vote on something they don't understand? Is this even legal?
I think this is all a non-issue. I don't believe I have ever seen much traffic on any of those streets, but that infamous circle was put in on Virginia Street at Shipping Avenue and in a sort of self fulfilling prophecy sort of way, maybe traffic should be diverted to Virginia so the damn traffic circle can finally serve a purpose. Right now all it does is make that corner look pretty.
Another solution is to just put a traffic bump on all three streets and let traffic flow where it may, but in a calming way, due to the traffic bump.
Also, more importantly at the meeting tonight are some real issues: the council will discuss adding another member and officers will be selected for 2009. That should be the purpose of the meeting tonight. Defer the Bridgeport vote until people can be more informed on December 18.
There will be a discussion on whether the Village Council should request a deferral on any decision from the City or County on the Bridgeport traffic calming device until after the public hearing on December 18 at that Village Council meeting.
Some council members feel that they are being pushed into voting on the issue tonight, but many would like to find out exactly what is planned for the streets in question: Bridgeport, 30th Court and maybe Virginia Street. The December 18 meeting will have experts present who will speak on the issue and explain what is actually planned and it will also be at City Hall where more people can attend and it will also be televised and streamed on the internet.
Meeting at the Glass House is sort of like meeting in the dark and it seems like a bad thing to be voting on important things when the public is not getting a 100% shot of seeing what is going on by attending the meeting, seeing it on tv or seeing it on the internet. I think that is fair for people to have those options.
Many Virginia Street residents don't want traffic diverted to their street from US1 and they feel that if Bridgeport gets a traffic calming device, it will send people over to Virginia. But is it a bump to slow traffic, an actual closed street or a traffic circle that is being planned? That is why the December 18 meeting should happen before any votes. How can the council vote on something they don't understand? Is this even legal?
I think this is all a non-issue. I don't believe I have ever seen much traffic on any of those streets, but that infamous circle was put in on Virginia Street at Shipping Avenue and in a sort of self fulfilling prophecy sort of way, maybe traffic should be diverted to Virginia so the damn traffic circle can finally serve a purpose. Right now all it does is make that corner look pretty.
Another solution is to just put a traffic bump on all three streets and let traffic flow where it may, but in a calming way, due to the traffic bump.
Also, more importantly at the meeting tonight are some real issues: the council will discuss adding another member and officers will be selected for 2009. That should be the purpose of the meeting tonight. Defer the Bridgeport vote until people can be more informed on December 18.
posted by Tom Falco at 8:00 AM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
6 Comments:
Why doesn't the Village Council publicly announce their meetings thorugh the Net office or by other means? They are an elected body and ALL their meetings should be publicly announced and held in a public place.
The Village Council does publicly announce our meeting. We arranged with the City to regularly meet at City Hall in the main room so it can be televised and many can see it from the comfort of their TVs or PCs. This meeting takes place the 3rd Thursday of every month.
Because the VC is a "guest" of City Hall, it was not always like this. The majority of the time slots are filled by many of the City boards and panels, so prior to the last election, the meetings were mostly held in the room in the back, known as the COW room. Nevertheless, these were still publicly noticed.
In recent years, the VC was able to gain a slot in the busy calendar at City Hall that enabled us to meet in the main chamber and be televised.
As stated previously in this blog, once in while we need to have an additional meeting in the month to accommodate agenda items on a timely basis, as there are only so many hours we can meet at City Hall Chambers and expect Louis, the AV staffer, to televise us.
Consequently, we meet elsewhere, such as the NET office or next door at the Chamber, which has a bit more room. Alas, both lack a TV crew, but interested parties are able to come and watch in the old fashioned way.
Hope this helps. Liliana Dones, VC
Actually, I live on Bridgeport and we get lot's of trucks (even though there are sign posted about trucks) and normal cars cutting through to US1, and to Bird. I think all the streets in that "Bird-US1" triangle should have some traffic calming devices. I invite anyone to come over and see for them selves. Anything would help, honestly!
Thanks,
Bill Anderson
Len Scinto:
i think you are very wrong about the "non-issue". there is a lot going on here that I don't have time to explain. However, the Bridgeport issue came up when the HD was going to open 2.5 yrs ago. Even before Marc Sarnoff's tenure during meetings with Johnny Winton. Like many issues with the city it took this long to get anything to happen. The City notified concerned neighbors on Virginia and 30th court of the closure and a few people opposed the partial closing on Bridgeport. Bridgeport is the only street without traffic lights (virginia) with direct vision between US1 and Bird Ave(unlike 30th) so it make a convenient cut through from US1 and adds speeding cars and truck traffic to our little street. This may not have been as great a problem in the past but Bridgeport has recently moved towards being "built out" with several new duplexes (many of which are unsold). So the problems of Bridgeport are not the same as Virginia or 30th.
I believe whoever says this is a non-issue or has never noticed traffic (speeding cut thru's or ilegal truck use) on Bridgeport proves to be uneducated on the matter. And hey, that's ok... just because we live in the Grove doesn't mean we know about every little nook and cranny within... it's just a matter of giving your neighbors the benefit of the doubt. I live on Bridgeport and first and foremost is the safety of our residents. Feel free to stop by and ask any one of us of the incidents that occur and what we are trying to do to protect our families. It's not a matter of convenience but safety... after all, we all deserve to enjoy a safe residential life in the Grove dont we?
I meant it was a non-issue for the Village Council, but I know it is an important issue for the neighbors and they should be able to figure it out with DOT or whomever and not have the Village Council debate the issue.
Post a Comment
<< Home