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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAngela Schilsky opinion about Town of Westlake's Comp Plan proposals Kelly Edwards From: Schilsky, Angela < Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 4:49 PM To: Kelly Edwards; Ginger Awtry; Tom Brymer; Susan McFarland Cc: Rick Rennhack; Laura Wheat; Alesa Belvedere; Carol Langdon; Wayne Stoltenberg; Michael Barrett; John Schilsky; Angela Schilsky Subject: Angela Schilsky opinion about Town of Westlake's Comp Plan proposals Kelly, Ginger, and Susan -Please provide a copy of the following email to the town council members for tonight's meeting. I also request that the email get read aloud at the meeting tonight. Unfortunately, I am "stuck"in Illinois due to the weather (10"of snow,flight cancellations) and unable to attend the meeting, but I have very strong opinions that I would like voiced. Thank you. Town Council Members, This letter is in response to the Town's proposals regarding Dove Road for the Comp plan: to create a thoroughfare connecting Dove Road and Solana behind Glenwyck Farms, and to widen Dove Road. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend tonight's meeting as I am "stuck" in Illinois due to weather, so my flight has been cancelled. I wanted to be sure to voice my opinion. I attended the comprehensive plan meetings over the past 18 months. When the consultant (I believe it was Robin) used the words "Dove road" and "6 lane" in the same sentence that very first meeting approximately 18 months ago, there was an audible gasp in the room. I need to point out there was UNANIMOUS opposition to widening Dove road at these comprehensive plan meetings. Let's not lose sight of that. Your constituents do NOT want Dove Road widened. It has become apparent that your constituents also do NOT want the Dove Road to Solana extension. It's safe to say that the overwhelming majority of Westlake residents would like you to vote to preserve Dove Road's historic quality as a connecting street through a residential community. There are so many issues: decreased safety, decreased property value, decreased aesthetics, etc. We highly doubt any Westlake resident would benefit from either of these getting passed. At most it would inconvenience us and would create a self-fulfilling prophecy of more traffic, most of which would be "cut-through" traffic. I think we can all agree that most of this "cut-through" traffic is a direct result of the delays on 114 heading northwest - at the junction with 377 near Roanoke. These proposals definitely contradict the town's vision, as stated on the website, which is as follows: "Westlake is an oasis of natural beauty that maintains our open spaces in balance with distinctive development, trails, and quality of life amenities amidst an ever expanding urban landscape." A similar debate occurred while we lived in Dallas. In 2006 the city of Dallas wanted to widen Mockingbird Lane from 2 to 4 lanes as it passed through the heart of Highland Park(population 8,500 but it's in the heart of Dallas so it's surrounded immediately on all 4 sides by the city of Dallas -population 1.2 million). This would have been a nightmare for HP residents, but would have been convenient for their Dallas neighbors, especially those wanting to have another east-west thoroughfare through town to get places like the Dallas North Tollway i and Love Field. The residents of HP were vocal, educated, and committed enough to rally around their cause. They were successful in their endeavors to stop this proposal from happening. We think 9 years later it's safe to say they were on the right side of that argument! HP has retained its beauty and tranquility - they made the right decision and did what was best for the town! We found a lot of interesting parallels to our situation in this Highland Park traffic study, and we wanted to share. We've pulled some quotes from the article as well: httss://hi2hllandsarktrafficstud .filles.wordsress.com/2014/09/h•-finall-traffic-study-report-092214.pdf "Strategies designed to control and divert volumes such as new highways, road closures, turning restrictions, etc have deleterious side effects. Adding road capacity attracts new vehicle trips, creating a self-fulfilling cycle of traffic growth, as demonstrated repeatedly with every road expansion project in American history. However, nine years ago —in the face of growing traffic— the Town of Highland Park chose not to expand Mockingbird but rather to focus on preserving its historic quality as a connecting street through a residential community. The enhancement project of narrowed lanes, improved crosswalks, landscaped medians, and turn pockets was highly instructive. Not only did Mockingbird handle just as many cars, the Town did it on their terms: slower, more safely, and in keeping with the character of Highland Park. As a result of the slower speeds and safer intersections, Mockingbird volumes (as well as those on parallel routes like Beverly) have declined somewhat, as cut-through drivers seeking alternate routes outside of Highland Park. Highland Park's experience on Mockingbird Lane is not unique; the tactic of calming and "dieting"arterials has been used successfully throughout the United States for years, with some of the best known successes on major roads like Santa Monica Boulevard, Massachusetts Avenue, and the Embarcadero. Key to their success has also been similar treatments on parallel routes." We would also like to point out that the city of Southlake is building a multi-million dollar roundabout at the intersection of Sam School/Peytonville and Dove Road later this year (2015/2016). The Southlake portion of Dove Road between Peytonville and 114 will be maintained as a 2 lane—Southlake is committed to maintaining a 2-lane Dove road in their master plan. It's nonsensical to us to widen Dove Lane on the less busy Westlake side, only to have it bottleneck back down to 2 lanes after the roundabout. Here is the link to the Southlake 2030 thoroughfare plan: http://www.cityofsouthlake.com/index.aspx?NID=806 Neither proposal good. If you build it (or widen it, as the case may be)...they will come. We need to stand firm as a community/ town council members, Westlake residents, etc. and oppose both of these proposals....just like Highland Park did over the proposed widening of Mockingbird Lane back in 2006. If it worked for Highland Park, it will work for us. Like the residents and town council members of Highland Park did, we implore you to focus on preserving Dove Road's historic quality as a connecting street through a residential community. Thank you again for all of your efforts. Angela Schilsky, M.D. 2