 She told the council that she had been to see them in August of last
year about the uncontrolled speeding on her street and had been
promised action, but to date nothing has happened.Quisenberry
recalled that when she was there last year in August, an
out-of-control, speeding vehicle had slammed into two of her
vehicles and a neighbor's vehicle that were parked along the street,
causing considerable damage to all of them.
On this visit she said that it had happened again, with an
out-of-control vehicle totaling her pickup truck. That accident
occurred on April 27. She said another incident occurred four days
later on South Kickapoo and caused considerable damage to vehicles
owned by one of her neighbors.
She told the council that, yes, she could possibly find another
place to park her vehicles, but then there would be nothing between
the street and her home, and she figured the speeding drivers would
hit that too.
She also noted that a neighbor had told her recently that while
her child was getting off a stopped school bus, a speeder actually
passed the bus.
Quisenberry said that after the last time she was at a council
meeting, the police did put a car in the area. They issued several
tickets and did slow the traffic down for a while. But when they
stopped coming on their patrols, the speeding and reckless driving
resumed.
Serving as mayor pro tem in the absence of Mayor Keith Snyder,
Melody Anderson said that the problem on South Kickapoo was not
being ignored by the city. There were discussions on what to do to
slow down the traffic, and action would be taken.
City engineer Darren Forgy offered some of the plans for
solutions. He said the city is looking at putting in rumble strips
on the edges of the driving lanes. Such strips will alert drivers
that they are in a parking lane. In addition, Forgy said the strips
would help to make the drivers less comfortable at high speeds.
He said the problem with South Kickapoo is that it is a very wide
road with no striping or markings. It feels wide to the drivers, and
that makes them feel like they can safely travel at high speeds.
Another option the city has looked at is adding lane striping to
narrow the appearance of the road, again with the goal of making
drivers less comfortable at high speed.
City administrator Sue McLaughlin also told Quisenberry that
doing something about South Kickapoo in this fiscal year was a
reality. She said the city budget includes $20,000 for implementing
a solution and that the city is looking at solutions "from A to Z."
[to top of second column] |
Quisenberry continued working to drive home the point that this
was a real problem. She told the council the speeding traffic goes
on from daylight to sunset. She said with summer coming and school
soon letting out, there will be about 20 children in the community
who are not safe in their own front yards.
In August, Quisenberry had asked for stop signs at some of the
intersections. She made that request again on Tuesday night.
Forgy, McLaughlin and police Chief Ken Greenslate all agreed that
the use of stop signs was not going to solve the problem. They told
Quisenberry that stop signs are not meant to be used as a speed
control. They also added that statistics show that when stop signs
are implemented, the speeding problem becomes worse because drivers
are unconvinced by the stop and speed up faster to make up for it.
Quisenberry said she was just frustrated by it all and didn't
know what to do. She said there have been five accidents on South
Kickapoo since January of 2012 and two of them involved parked
vehicles she owned.
Anderson told Quisenberry that she was doing the right thing by
coming to the council with her concerns. She also noted that the
city is concerned about this also and is doing what they can to
address the problem, but it does take time.
Quisenberry then asked if the city would send a representative to
the area to go door-to-door and ask residents for their suggestions
on what to do.
Anderson said that the city engineer was well-versed in the
situation and was looking at every option, and she didn't believe it
would be necessary for someone to go door-to-door in the community.
Forgy also added that Quisenberry and her neighbors can go to the
city website and use the contact form to email their thoughts to the
city engineer.
To reach city services through the website, go to
http://www.cityoflincoln-il.gov/, click on the "Contact Us" tab
on the left-hand side of the page. When the page changes, choose
from "City Government," "City Council," "Emergency Services" or
"Other City Contacts." When the index of names comes up, phone
numbers are listed beside them. In addition, mouse onto the name of
the person you wish to contact, left click and an email form will
come up.
[By NILA SMITH] |
