Council takes traffic comments, tips

Millwood residents came to get answers and solutions from Millwood City Council during a special traffic meeting Monday night.

“Tonight’s meeting is very informal,” Millwood Mayor Dan Mork said while opening the meeting. “I’ll be taking notes tonight so we can capture the information for the council to help us address some of these problems in the future.”

For more than an hour, council members heard public comments and ideas for solving parking and traffic-related issues such as speeding, running stop signs and congestion problems that seem to have escalated since the Argonne Road project last summer.

Mork opened the discussion by inviting comments on designated no-parking areas in the city.

Parking is prohibited on the east side of North Laura Road, although the city is not enforcing the restriction. Carl Major, who lives on Laura, told the council a number of homes have only single-car driveways. As some of these are also home-based businesses, they require street-side parking for their customers.

“Put a ‘No parking’ sign on Laura Street 30 feet from the corner,” Major said while proposing his idea for a solution. “That would leave parking on the east and west side of Laura Road.”

Sally Weiler, who lives on South Frederick, questioned the legality of restricting parking on the public right-of-way due to obstructions.

“I feel like I live in Bedrock,” Weiler said, which generated laughter from the audience. “People got their rocks and their fences on the right of way, is that legal?”

Mork responded to Weiler by saying the city is liable for the public right-of-way and residents should not be blocking access with rocks, basketball hoops, or anything that covers the right-of-way.

Several residents from Laura expressed concern over Ordinance 382, passed last July, which prohibits parking along their street. Following their comments, the council decided to rescind the parking restriction on the east side of Laura at next month’s regular meeting.

After hearing comments on parking, the council solicited comments on other traffic-related concerns.

“Our problem is we have no law enforcement,” resident Steve Peters said about speed violations. “It’s all reactive when we have a problem.”

Mork said the council is planning to address the traffic enforcement concerns by hiring extra patrols over the next two weeks. The patrols will focus on Empire Way, Euclid Avenue, South Riverway and the intersection of Grace Avenue and Maple Road. Mork estimated the patrols will cost the city an average $1,500 to $1,600 a week in addition to the more than $200,000 the city pays for police protection

Councilman Kevin Freeman raised concerns over using the city’s tax dollars to hire extra patrols targeting only a few areas.

“Everybody in the city has issues,” Freeman said. “We can’t contract for extra police service for a long duration to just to take care of certain hot spots within the city. It has to benefit the town as a whole.”

Longtime resident Jack Bunton, representing the South Riverway neighborhood, asked the council to reduce the speed limit to 10 mph and add signage because of young children in the neighborhood. Bunton claims traffic has substantially increased since last summer’s Argonne Road project.

“It’s a problem waiting to happen,” Bunton said. “Something has got to be done.”

After residents voiced concerns about drivers running through the stop sign at the intersection of Empire and Fowler, Freeman suggested adding rumble strips, and a speed hump at each of the four stop signs at that intersection.

“That one seems to be the most dangerous,” Freeman said about the intersection. “If we get good results there, we could roll it out at other places.”

Freeman said that if the speed bump at Empire and Fowler is successful, the council will consider installing permanent traffic calming devices in other areas of town.

Mork plans to seek council permission to contact engineering firm Welch Comer regarding installing a speed bump at next month’s meeting.