"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer
Carefree Truth
Issue #1050, August 29, 2022
Issue #1050, August 29, 2022
Mayor Les Peterson asked Councilwoman Cheryl Kroyer and Town Administrator Gary Neiss for their estimation of the number of people who live in close proximity to the town center, crossing either Tom Darlington Drive or Cave Creek Road, saying it is dangerous and that something must be done about those intersections where the crosswalks are located. Over the past 2-3 years, what percentage of people have demanded that something be done?
Ms. Kroyer replied that she thinks there has always been concern about crossing Tom Darlington and Cave Creek to get into town. People speed, there's no refuge area, and it was getting pretty dangerous, so a traffic consultant was hired. She felt that one area of confusion is that some think all of Tom Darlington and Cave Creek would be made into one lane in each direction. She explained that is only planned for the sections right at the town core.
The crosswalk improvements are not done, but there is now a refuge area on Hum on Cave Creek Road, so if you can't make it all the way across, it still feels safe. It was so dangerous for a while, and there was so much concern about safety, that they were considering having Gary Neiss walk back and forth about 20 times a day to see how often he could do it without being mown down. "But, seriously, we are now close to getting it solved, and again, we're not making all of Cave Creek and all of Tom Darlington two lanes."
Mr. Neiss noted that nothing has been finally decided. "To the credit of Stacey (Bridge-Denzak) and Steve (Prokopek), we have been going out into the community to ask residents what they desire, and raising the concerns that other residents have brought to us. We don't sit in a back room and think about things that don't align with what our residents want." He noted that the Council has heard from many other neighborhoods that want access to town center, raising concerns about traffic speed and the amount of asphalt that needs to be crossed.
Carefree would not be spending precious funds on this were it not an issue. Reducing the amount of asphalt and reducing traffic speed is a possible solution, as conveyed by traffic engineers who are looking at revitalization and connectivity into the town center, but no final decisions have been made about major changes.
The Town has spoken to HOAs in the past, and they have gone 'round and 'round with The Reserve at Tranquil Trail proposing a new crosswalk, but a pedestrian crosswalk cannot be placed mid-block with the traffic speeds and the amount of asphalt one has to cross. "It would not be safe to paint the street and call it a day." The standards today are a lot higher due to lawsuits, and those standards must be applied.
One suggestion by the traffic engineers was to add a 4 way stop sign there. That was planned to be done with the recent pavement project, but The Reserve at Tranquil Trail HOA said that some of the residents were concerned about the noise associated with that 4 way stop, so Carefree listened to the residents and removed that from the plan. Some of the residents there suggested adding a roundabout, but other residents are concerned about a roundabout.
These are all compromises, things to be discussed in a public forum, and not everyone will be happy with the solution. These are not "backroom deals". Stacey and Steve are going out and meeting with the neighborhoods, and having public meetings, so that when an idea is presented to the Council, it is hoped to have some "buy-in" from the community, but the Town is far from making any final decisions.
Since a previous speaker at Call to the Public was under the impression that the Council made decisions with no input from and no notice to the residents, Ms. Kroyer said she would like to emphasize that they don't make any "backroom decisions in the dark". Every decision is made in the public forum. It's all on the website and in the communications sent out by the Town. "If you follow what is done, you'll find that everything is out there in the open."
https://vimeo.com/728462565
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
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Ms. Kroyer replied that she thinks there has always been concern about crossing Tom Darlington and Cave Creek to get into town. People speed, there's no refuge area, and it was getting pretty dangerous, so a traffic consultant was hired. She felt that one area of confusion is that some think all of Tom Darlington and Cave Creek would be made into one lane in each direction. She explained that is only planned for the sections right at the town core.
The crosswalk improvements are not done, but there is now a refuge area on Hum on Cave Creek Road, so if you can't make it all the way across, it still feels safe. It was so dangerous for a while, and there was so much concern about safety, that they were considering having Gary Neiss walk back and forth about 20 times a day to see how often he could do it without being mown down. "But, seriously, we are now close to getting it solved, and again, we're not making all of Cave Creek and all of Tom Darlington two lanes."
Mr. Neiss noted that nothing has been finally decided. "To the credit of Stacey (Bridge-Denzak) and Steve (Prokopek), we have been going out into the community to ask residents what they desire, and raising the concerns that other residents have brought to us. We don't sit in a back room and think about things that don't align with what our residents want." He noted that the Council has heard from many other neighborhoods that want access to town center, raising concerns about traffic speed and the amount of asphalt that needs to be crossed.
Carefree would not be spending precious funds on this were it not an issue. Reducing the amount of asphalt and reducing traffic speed is a possible solution, as conveyed by traffic engineers who are looking at revitalization and connectivity into the town center, but no final decisions have been made about major changes.
The Town has spoken to HOAs in the past, and they have gone 'round and 'round with The Reserve at Tranquil Trail proposing a new crosswalk, but a pedestrian crosswalk cannot be placed mid-block with the traffic speeds and the amount of asphalt one has to cross. "It would not be safe to paint the street and call it a day." The standards today are a lot higher due to lawsuits, and those standards must be applied.
One suggestion by the traffic engineers was to add a 4 way stop sign there. That was planned to be done with the recent pavement project, but The Reserve at Tranquil Trail HOA said that some of the residents were concerned about the noise associated with that 4 way stop, so Carefree listened to the residents and removed that from the plan. Some of the residents there suggested adding a roundabout, but other residents are concerned about a roundabout.
These are all compromises, things to be discussed in a public forum, and not everyone will be happy with the solution. These are not "backroom deals". Stacey and Steve are going out and meeting with the neighborhoods, and having public meetings, so that when an idea is presented to the Council, it is hoped to have some "buy-in" from the community, but the Town is far from making any final decisions.
Since a previous speaker at Call to the Public was under the impression that the Council made decisions with no input from and no notice to the residents, Ms. Kroyer said she would like to emphasize that they don't make any "backroom decisions in the dark". Every decision is made in the public forum. It's all on the website and in the communications sent out by the Town. "If you follow what is done, you'll find that everything is out there in the open."
https://vimeo.com/728462565
Lyn Hitchon
Prepared by Carefree Truth
Copyrighted
Visit our website at www.carefreetruth2.com If you know anyone who would like to be added to the Carefree Truth email list, please have them contact me. Feel free to share Carefree Truth with others on your list.
Visit www.carefreeazbusinesses.com to see more info about businesses in Carefree. Please support our merchants.