6.2. SR 11-27-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. Honorable Mayor and City Council November 20, 2000 Page Two 2. Installation of a "choker" along Auburn Street As the Council will recall, the packet from the July 24, 2000 meeting included several traffic calming ideas. Creating "chokers" along the street was one of these. A choker is a relatively long area, approximately 200 feet in length, where the street is narrowed, essentially choking it down creating a situation where the motoring public will tend to drive slower. The concern with Auburn Street and trying to construct a choker mid-block between 193rd Avenue and 196th Avenue is that the street is only 32 feet wide. In constructing a choker, the street could not be narrowed below 24 to 26 feet in width, or it will cause an unsafe condition for two-way traffic. Narrowing Auburn Street by three feet on either side would not provide the motoring public the perception that the street is getting substantially narrower. It will also be difficult to accomplish because of the developed nature of Auburn Street with driveways and front lawns established. It would be very difficult to create the choker situation without major disruption to some of the driveways and front lawns along this area. It was the consensus of the group that in other major plats where one roadway has a wider width (36 to 40 feet) for carrying major volumes of traffic, designing a choker into the project in the initial construction stages would work rather well. . 3. Gateway From the July 24, 2000 packet, the Council will recall that a gateway is a narrowing with potentially some monumentation at the entrance to a street, essentially creating the same effect as a choker, but at one end or the other of a street segment. The concern here is very similar to the choker discussion above in that the street really is not wide enough to create a significant impact in developing a gateway at either the south or the north end. Also, it would be difficult to construct after the fact, with all of the properties developed along Auburn Street. Once again, the committee felt that gateways were appropriate in developing plats and should be considered in the future. 4. Sidewalks The committee discussed constructing a sidewalk on either or both the east or west side of Auburn Street. As the Council will recall, there was a number of concerns about small children living adjacent to Auburn Street. If the adjacent residents felt a sidewalk was appropriate as a means for pedestrian movements and/or children to play with bicycles and such, a sidewalk could be constructed. It is always difficult to build a sidewalk after all of the driveways are established, since the driveways generally have a straight grade from the back of curb up to the garage elevation. When a sidewalk is interjected five to seven feet back from the curb along this driveway, a relatively flat area needs to be provided for the sidewalk. This has the effect of steepening the driveway grade from that point up to the garage. We have not done a detailed analysis, but it can be assumed that to construct a sidewalk along Auburn Street on either or both sides, numerous driveways will have to be cut back substantially and the grades steepened. The committee felt that this option should be only undertaken if the neighborhood indicates a majority in support of sidewalk installation. . Ltr-112000-City Council.doc Howard R. Green Company CONSULTING ENGINEERS