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Blog Entry 76 of 102 A Journalist's Musings
As a journalist, I don't often have the opportunity to share my opinion. So I thought I'd come over here and share my point of view on matters affecting our community and the state. I'm not afraid to take a stand, and I welcome the conversation that will follow if you tell me your point of view!

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~CastlewoodRanchCouncilman

Traffic calming policy to get vote Tuesday 10/23
Contributed by: Hank Lacey   on 10/21/2007

The Castle Rock Town Council will take up a controversial "traffic calming" policy proposed by the traffic engineers in the Public Works Department on Tuesday, October 23.

The proposed policy, which has been pitched by Town Manager Mark Stevens and his Public Works Director as a response to citizen concerns about the safety of residential streets, actually shows signs of being nothing more than a sham.

The proposal would excuse town staff from even discussing the need for additional traffic calming projects, such as speed humps, medians, additional signage, or increased police presence, unless the average number of vehicles on the residential street in question exceeds 500 per day AND the average speed of vehicles driving on that residential street is 32 miles per hour or greater.

Of course few residential streets are likely to experience an average volume of 500 or more vehicles a day. And the speed limit on every residential street in Castle Rock is 25 miles per hour. Mr. Stevens and his staff have so far refused even to attempt an explanation as to why the average speed permitted on residential streets gets to be 7 mph greater than the limit before anyone at Town Hall stops to think that children might be endangered by that lax approach.

It's no answer to say that children can be kept safe if they never go into their family's front yard. Children have to walk to school or bus stops or friends' houses and sometimes, even when parents are very attentive, children can unexpectedly run toward the street or leave a fenced backyard. Our Town Council should not seek to evade itssolemn responsibilty to keep our streets safe, particularly when the Councilhas already voted to spend money on such inanities as trying to keep people from advertising garage sales, lemonade stands and open houses.

And, let's be clear, money is not the issue. Five members of the Town Council have expressed a willingness to spend tens of millions of dollars on parking garages attached to developers' private projects in downtown Castle Rock. There are numerous other examples of frivolous, even unconscionable, spending. Surely our town government can find the relatively small amount of money needed to improve the likelihood that our children will not be mowed down by reckless and speeding motorists on the long, straight and wide residential streets approved, even insisted on, by the Public Works Department.

That department has long been committed, like so many others around the country, to making residential roadways amenable above all to fast-moving cars and trucks while simultaneously treating questions of pedestrian and bicyclist safety as an irritant or, at best, an afterthought.

Nor is the purported safety of Castle Rock's residential streets a reason to support this ridiculously ineffective and shameful attempt to fool the public into believing that Town Hall cares about safe streets. We had a young child killed in the Meadows last year when a driver hit him as he stepped out from behind a parked car. And I can assure you that many, many parents in Castlewood Ranch are convinced that an inordinate number of drivers feel justified in traveling at velocities well in excess of 25 mph on residential streets. I have personally witnessed dozens of cars moving at 40 or more mph on Lovington Avenue, just west of Flagstone Elementary School, and dozens traveling near that speed on Halifax and other streets in my district.

The Public Works Department likes to say that they "test" for excessive speeds, but what they really do is put an electronic speed monitor just beyond an intersection. Naturally enough the cars turning don't have time or distance enough to get to the velocity they will be going half-way down the street when their speed is measured. The Public Works Department's "measurements" are just another way of trying to convince the public they are doing something when, in fact, their efforts are designed to reach a foregone conclusion and justify a decision not to acknowledge that a problem exists.

Please come to the Town Council meeting on Tuesday, October 23 and voice your opinion on this travesty. If few or no people do that, Castle Rock will be stuck with the high and growing risk that our children will be killed or maimed by speeding cars on residential streets for a very long time. It doesn't have to be that way. If concerned residents come, and remind my colleagues that they'll keep this vote in mind on election day, there is hope for a more honest, effective, and respectful policy.


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Hank Lacey
posted on 10/23/2007 @ 11:04:44 AM
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Thanks for the comment, Michael. I didn't seek election to make friends at Town Hall and, whether the town staff agrees with me or not, I intend to continue informing the public of my point of view. I call them as I see them.
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Submitted By: Michael Rule
posted on 10/22/2007 @ 8:48:38 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Good article, though I can't believe you are making too many friends at City Hall.... How about Valium dispensers at all City limits?
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Hank Lacey

Castle Rock , CO

Hank Lacey has posted 102 blog entries and 8 comments since joining on 5/31/2007. Hank Lacey 's average blog rating is 4.98.
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