[Vision2020] ITD workshops today n tomorrow

[Janice Willard]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the update and reminder to attend the meetings.  I recommend that
everybody do so. You are very correct about the importance of considering
these issues now.  It took me about 40 minutes of moving back and forth
between the ITD folks and Moscow city transportation folks at the last
public meeting to get the real picture of this plan, which is as you
described: that although the city has been presenting this "ring road"
concept for local traffic, it is, in fact, being designed as a truck bypass.
The man from ITD in fact told me that they do not plan to build a truck
bypass, because the city of Moscow was already doing this for them with
their "ring road."  This made me highly suspicious of what the city
engineers had been telling me, that the ring road was at least 25 years down
the line and was being considered mostly to aid movement of local traffic.
If they chose the east route, the ITD version gives the specter of  700
trucks a day (ITD's numbers) barreling down the road at near highway speeds
(45 to 50 miles an hour--also information that ITD gave me) and the
resulting commercial development in the area just east of the Moscow city
limits.  That would mean that anytime anyone on that side of town came into
or went out of town, they would have to cross this new highway with highway
speed trucks traveling on it (the truck bypass would not have the stops on
it, every road that intersected it would), plus there would be dramatic
changes to the quality of life for all of the neighborhoods on the east side
of town.   All these currently quiet and safe neighborhoods that now have
farm land at their far boundaries, would instead have rumbling trucks and
commercial development encircling them.

So I second Dave's recommendation to try to attend these workshops.  These
decisions could significantly change the character of our town.

JW


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "david sarff" <davesway at hotmail.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 9:10 AM
Subject: [Spam] [Vision2020] ITD workshops today n tomorrow


> The findings of the first Moscow transportation study (out of three
> recommended), regarding a by-pass, are that Moscow does not need a by-pass
> that meets "federal design" standards. Moscow is about to receive a
> "federally designed" highway from the South.  In my mind there are some
> considerable incongruences in promoting relief of traffic by designing the
> highway to federal standards and relief of traffic for the city via a
> locally controlled by-pass or Ring Road, or what ever term one chooses to
> purposely exclude the Fed. If we don't need one, we don't need the other.
> With a new highway, built to Federal standards, a by-pass likely will
come,
> built to these same standards. If the present concept of "ring road
system"
> is put into place before that time, these new approaches of US 95 into
> Moscow need increased scrutiny now. The choices for the highway are to go
> east or west of the present route, or to improve the existing route.
> Residents need to seriously consider how this forthcoming highway will tie
> into a future by-pass built to the same standards as the highway.  The
> furthest extremes of routing East or West will influence, if not
altogether
> lock in, the application of a future outcome.  Please come to the
workshops
> for routing US 95 at the eastside marketplace Wed. and Thurs. 19th-20th
> sessions from 1-4 pm and 5:30-8:30 and take part in the decision making
> process.
>
>
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