Q. What do you think the most important transportation issues are in this area with regard to east-west travel?

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1 The following are the comments received in a survey of homeowner and neighborhood representatives conducted prior to the three Open Houses on August 2nd and 3rd, The opinions are presented as part of the record for the East-West Mobility Study. These comments are a valuable contribution to the understanding of the public s concerns. Q. What do you think the most important transportation issues are in this area with regard to east-west travel? East-west mobility needs to be a city-wide focus. One street will not solve the congestion problem. It is the center of the City that is the most problematic, in terms of traffic congestion. There is a lack of east-west connection in the City, particularly between Garden of the Gods (Austin Bluffs) and Martin Luther King. Since Woodmen Road is the only access across I-25, it should be expanded to accommodate traffic needs. Overpasses would be good solutions for the Woodmen Road and Academy corridors. Academy Drive is ridiculously congested during peak rush hour. There are plenty of north-south corridors in Colorado Springs, but it is the east-west connection that is lacking. There is a glaring north-south problem, which is increasing the congestion on the east-west corridors There is not a major problem with regard to east-west travel in the area. The issue is that there is too much development in the area. It is aggravating during rush hour, because the traffic lights are not timed for flowing traffic. From the east side of town, you have to go all the way downtown in order to get anywhere (e.g. the university). Safety issues with nearby schools being separated from the local communities by a major road. Access to Woodmen Road is virtually impossible. Reduce travel time, particularly during the peak rush hour. Need to maximize mobility while preserving neighborhood integrity. Neighborhoods along Woodmen were established 30 years ago and are well settled. Almost all of the new growth is occurring in the north and east. A bypass should be considered north and east from I-25. There should be a connection to Powers on the north. Council gave their recommendation last year that the central core of neighborhoods were pretty much to be left alone, excepting intersections and minor smoothing. Their recommendation was to minimize impacts to old neighborhoods. Don t jerry-rig Uintah and San Miguel. When there is an accident on I-25, there aren t many options to go around via another road. San Miguel Street is currently a residential street. Turning it into one-way would contradict the area. Many of the homes have been renovated. People are looking after the area very carefully. The reduction of property values in the area is a major concern. Meeting time conflict between the East-West Mobility Study open house on Thursday and a Thursday evening hearing on historic designation for the San Miguel neighborhood. Plan on using Powers Boulevard to alleviate traffic on I-25, especially if the east-west extension goes 1

2 through. Constitution has been suggested, but that has been put on the back burner. Synchronize the lights. Don t spend money on new roads and studies. Try to create minor impacts for many residents rather than major impacts for a few residents. Q. What is the most pressing transportation concern you would like the study to address? Growth is mostly occurring in the northern end of the study area. The mobility study must be based on reality, by using traffic counts and traffic forecasts for the future. Be sure to include all the street traffic counts to compare all of the alternatives. Provide more transit (bus or Light Rail Transit) in Colorado Springs. Concerns that the people on the east side of Powers Road have to go far north or south to get to their homes. It is not really appropriate to destroy neighborhoods to reduce travel time twice a day. It is not an equal cost-benefit solution. Cross-town freeways through established neighborhoods are bad and do not solve any problems. Truck routes that go east-west are still a problem, because of weight limitations. If the roads were not so congested and had better access, there wouldn t be as much red light-running. Why do only some neighborhoods get charged additional taxes (e.g. Metex) for improving specific roads? The study should question whether the improvement will be short term or (inadvertently) be creating more congestion. There needs to be a working relationship between the City and the neighborhoods that ring the downtown. These neighborhoods have the wealth of the architectural differentiation in the City, and are the source of heritage-related tourism. It is ludicrous to consider widening roads, cutting into medians, or making traffic move faster. The crossing is bad at Uintah and the traffic is going too fast. Once these neighborhoods are gone, they re gone. Have the City say How can we help these neighborhoods to be more beautiful than they already are? not How can we move more traffic? Houses on San Miguel are already close to the street. Driveways provide direct access into the street. A one-way would make it difficult to get in/out of homes. Constitution should not be anything like a 6-lane road. Why couldn t it just be cut through as is (fewer lanes)? There is nothing to destroy on Fillmore. Circle around the City (Woodmen Rd. / MLK By-Pass) has considerable merit. Such a solution might not solve problems downtown. Don t want to destroy any other neighborhoods with a beltway around the City. Having an east and west connection is fairly important. Don t know where it could be located to alleviate problems and not cause other problems at the same time. Not a viable plan to use Constitution. Travels close to several schools (Horseman and Stratton). The part that exists is already fairly congested. It would go through neighborhoods. It would create many 2

3 problems. Has seen a beltway plan with Academy, Powers, US 24 that seems logical. Q. What do you think are the most important things for us to take into account in evaluating transportation improvement options? Consider using Constitution Avenue as an east-west corridor. East-west options already exist to the north and south, but there is not an east-west option through the middle of town. Limit on/off access on the east-west road. When traffic enters or exits the roads via ramps, traffic tends to back up. Woodmen Road is not adequate with current designs, and must be expanded to accommodate more users. One of the two major shopping areas in town is at the north end of the study area. Neighbors of the shopping area would like to keep the retail and commercial businesses in their areas. Safety (vehicular speed limits), traffic congestion, and the ease of access to the transportation corridors should be considered. I-25 vehicular capacity is creating congestion. Therefore, people exit the highway to use east-west roads to get to their destination. If the intent is to get people east-west, then the north-south routes will need to be improved. Get an accurate measurement (quantitative) of the traffic flow, because one east-west thoroughfare will not solve the problem. Keep this study out of the political arena. Constitution is a semi-good option for an east-west corridor. Woodmen is not a viable option because it is too far north for the traffic that would prefer crossing town in the central or southern portion of the City. Platte should be considered as an east-west option. Increase taxes, if necessary, to pay for nice landscaping along the chosen corridor. Woodmen Road seems to have a lower population along the corridor that would be displaced if it were widened. Constitution would displace more people than Woodmen Road. Plan better for growth in Colorado Springs. Provide options that offer long term solutions with minimal disruptions. The study should consider how Light Rail Transit would improve things vs. what do we have to sacrifice to achieve it. The number one threat for the Old North End is the speed and the amount/volume of traffic. Others have said, If traffic would go 20 mph, you could bring all the cars you wanted. Higher speeds are intimidating to pedestrians and cyclists. The City already has four north-south arterials (major or minor) and only one east-west arterial through 1,450 homes. Use statistic that these arterials carry 1 4 as much volume as I-25. Preserve/protect the big trees, park and historic buildings/architecture. Preserve the quality of life. The Old North End Neighborhood is on the National Historic Register. In a bigger context, downtown partnership is pushing to expand the BID up to Cache La Poudre Street. Seventy percent of public space is already given over to cars. The BID would like to increase the 3

4 percentage devoted to the pedestrian. Compensate for loss of property value. Wherever a new connection takes place, there will be a problem. There will always be people who will object. You just have to go with the majority. You can t please everyone. Q. What is important for us to consider with regard to preserving or enhancing your neighborhood in this process? The City should follow through with the original plan to expand Woodmen to a 6 lane arterial road. All the neighborhoods and businesses along Woodmen have been designed to accommodate the expansion already. Weigh the individual rights and community sentiment against the overall benefit for the City. Near the intersection of Powers and Barnes, there is supposed to be a business corridor. The effect of keeping the area a business corridor and limiting housing, could reduce traffic congestion in the area. Consider noise or pollution barriers/controls Don t make San Miguel or Uintah one-way, because it makes traffic move faster. Currently, there is not a single commercial venue on that street. Except Uintah at I-25, there is also no commercial all the way to Circle Dr. There is a new Comprehensive Plan in the City, a long time in the making. The plan is very heavily weighted towards neighborhoods as compared to the old Plan. This plan doesn t support one-way streets. The SCIP voted unanimously to remove proposed San Miguel and Uintah Streets from the list of bond issues under consideration, based on environmental and neighborhood criteria. The folks on San Miguel have made 2-3 submittals for the development of a traffic calming plan. At a presentation to SCIP 3 weeks ago, San Miguel was at the top of the list for traffic calming. City has enough fiscal resources to do about three projects per year. Consider historic resources Consider property values and quality of life Don t focus widening on any single corridor. Do modest widening of many streets, possibly including Uintah and Maiseland. Q. What is the best way for you and your neighborhood organization to receive information and participate in this process? Provide announcements about the project in the Woodmen Edition, which is published each Friday. Direct mail Postcards Newspapers Public notices posted on the road Public meetings Study team should work with the HOA s too 4

5 Q. Are there any key individuals or organizations you think should be involved in this planning effort? Contact the Woodmen Enhancement Committee Coordinate with local business groups. Contact the Council of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO) Ron May, who is running for state representative now Springs Ranch HOA, south of Stetson Hills New North End Neighborhood Q. Is there anything else you want us to know that might be important to this project? There is definitely a need for the mobility study. It is important that the project thoroughly address how 100,000 cars a day can be re-routed. How much will it cost? What is a real time schedule? The study should examine the cost-benefit ratio, such as the value of gaining 2 minutes, for instance, after spending $150 million. There was an article in the paper saying several hundred of the traffic sensors in the synchronization are broken. Synchronization is terrible. During the next stage of the East-West Mobility Study the comments will be grouped into similar/common themes and will be used to identify issues important to Colorado Springs residents regarding east-west mobility. The statements will form the basis for project goals and will help focus further planning activities. 5