Traffic Helps Spur Creation Of Rockwood Council Neighborhood Group’s Bylaws Up For A Vote

Closure of Grand Boulevard and installation of temporary street barriers are bringing new attention to a longstanding concern for Rockwood residents.

Traffic cutting down Garfield Road and other residential streets has only worsened with the monthlong closure of Grand for repaving.

It is a central issue in the move to organize a new neighborhood council in Rockwood.

A vote to adopt the bylaws for the council is planned at a meeting tonight at 7 at the Manito Masonic Lodge, 2715 S. Grand.

The neighborhood will be bounded by 12th Avenue to the north, Grand Boulevard to the west, 29th Avenue to the south and Southeast Boulevard to the east.

The meeting will give neighbors a chance to air their views on the temporary traffic barriers that were installed by the city last week to slow motorists cutting through the upper Rockwood area.

“We are a neighborhood that’s been yelling about traffic for a long time,” said Marcia Tunik, who is among those organizing the Rockwood neighborhood council.

“We are glad the city is listening,” she said.

Traffic counts on Garfield Road were as high as 4,000 cars a day before Grand was closed, said Marilyn Akerhielm, another neighborhood organizer.

Residential streets should carry no more than 2,000 vehicles per day, she said.

Barriers along Garfield Road and several other residential streets went up to discourage commuters from using those streets as detours during the Grand closure.

They were installed after a committee of neighborhood residents met with city traffic engineers.

Some people have criticized the barriers as giving preferential treatment to the Rockwood area.

But the residents said the problem is bad enough to justify the temporary measures. They want the city to come up with permanent solutions to traffic problems after Grand reopens.

Gina Schrock, who lives in the Rockwood area, has been a critic of the temporary barriers because they aggravate the inconvenience of having Grand closed.

“I’m embarrassed by the message it sends to people coming through the neighborhood,” Schrock said.

“I think people should be welcome to drive slowly through the neighborhood.”

She said the barriers may send more traffic down Plateau Road at Hutton School, where classes resume next week. That could increase the danger for children.

Tunik said traffic is probably the top issue in the area.

The fact that the city responded to concerns by installing experimental temporary barriers shows how the neighborhood council idea works, she said.

Another issue for Rockwood residents is historic preservation.

In May, a large portion of Rockwood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearly 280 homes were included in the district as historically significant.

Another 50 homes are inside the district but are not considered significant contributors to the historic character of the neighborhood.

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