Applying the spaghetti theory of policy analysis, let me throw a strand of pasta on the wall and see if it sticks or not. (One would think that with seemingly everyone agreed on the problem that a workable and satisfactory solution could be found. I've been mulling this over these last several days as the conversation has ensued here TownTalk and I'm actually more skeptical now than I was when it started. Laying my skepticism aside...)<br>
<br>Seems to me the worst aspect of the problem is that drivers heading east on Queensbury to turn left onto W Beale do so at a high rate of speed. There's nothing to slow them down, due to the gentle angle of the intersection. In other words, they're not getting up to speed on W Beale, they're entering W Beale already going way too fast. This is what makes it especially dangerous for pedestrians and drivers headed west on Queensbury. SOLUTION: A median strip on Queensbury that would force those making a left turn to slow down and make a full, sharp left, rather than cutting the angle and never slowing down. Of course, this could have the unintended consequence of exacerbating one of the problems others have already mentioned: The fact that people waiting to make left turns onto W Beale backup traffic into the Rt 1 intersection, which is the last thing we need. Like I said, no solution is either perfect or all-encompassing.<br>
<br>Yours in traffic,<br><br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 9:22 AM, Bruce Wernek <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bruce.wernek@verizon.net" target="_blank">bruce.wernek@verizon.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial"><div>Folks</div><div> </div><div>There's no way to stop the cut throughs. Why not use speed humps to slow down the traffic. </div>
<div> </div><div>I walk my dog up to Lynn's because he like the pee wall. It's treacherous to say the least. Commuters cut over from Queensbury racing to get home and they aren't looking for me and Edgar. There's been a number of occasions when I've had a lump in my throat in while cross the street as a speeding commuter is coming toward me.</div>
<div> </div><div>Bruce</div><div class="im"><div> </div><div> </div><div style="MARGIN:5px 0px;BORDER-TOP:#bcbcbc 1px solid"></div><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:arial">On 01/17/13, <span>Alan K. Thompson<<a href="mailto:akthompson@riverdaleparkmd.gov" target="_blank">akthompson@riverdaleparkmd.gov</a>></span> wrote:</span><div>
</div></div><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:arial"><div dir="ltr"><div class="im">Dear Audrey,<div><br></div><div>We're limited as to what we can regulate on the roads. We can certainly put a sign up that says "Local Traffic Only" or "No Cut-through Traffic" or "Business Traffic Only" but I suspect that every ticket written for someone cutting through would be thrown out of court, and someone would (eventually) take us to court over the practice. If that worked, then University Park wouldn't have the "Do Not Enter" signs on Sheridan and Tuckerman to deter traffic that cuts through their neighborhood. </div>
<div><br></div><div>The attempts with the Jersey barriers (I think there were at least two attempts, with different locations for the barriers and different sections of W. Beale that were one way) suggest that this problem isn't easy to solve. The solution has to not annoy the customers of those businesses (because even being annoyed, like the Jersey barriers, might make them go elsewhere) while seriously deterring the cut-through drivers, and also being something we can legally enforce. If the "shared parking" proposal that was going around as the bank was being approved had gone through, then we could close the street and make people go through the parking lot (which would slow down cut-through traffic enough to deter it, while not annoying people who were going to be parking anyway) but that didn't happen (and there might be some unintended consequences anyway).</div>
<div><br></div><div>In the short run, as I noted earlier, we can ask the police to enforce the speed limit and other driving rules to at least make it passable. We can also use traffic logging resources we have to determine how much of a problem it is, and what times of day there are problems, and see if there are patterns in the data that suggest new solutions. On a longer time scale, I would suggest that we could consult with a traffic engineer about ways we might achieve our goals. I'll discuss this with my honored colleague from the First Ward, Jonathan Ebbeler, and see what thoughts he has on the matter, since this street is in his ward.</div>
<div><br></div></div><div>Alan</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="im">On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 4:50 PM, Audrey Bragg <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:abragg7393@aol.com" target="_blank">abragg7393@aol.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div><blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;MARGIN:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;PADDING-LEFT:1ex" class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5"><font color="black" face="arial"></font><div><font color="black" face="arial">Hi Alan,</font></div>
<div>I remember the jersey barrier and the business objection to it. I am not proposing that. My idea was something as simple as a sign at the entrance saying "business customers only" No through traffic. I see from the other posts that people agree that it is a road that needs a solution. I know that big improvements take big money, but a sign? Maybe. How would it be enforced? Maybe by the police force for a day or two. Once people know they won't use that road for a cut through. Actually, we could make some money here. We have the police sit at Beale Circle. When the cars come through without going into the businesses, we pull them over and give them a hefty fine. <span><font color="#888888"><br>
Audrey<br><br></font></span></div></div></div><div><div><div style="FONT-FAMILY:arial,helvetica;FONT-SIZE:10pt"><div><div class="h5">-----Original Message-----<br>From: Alan K. Thompson <<a href="mailto:webmaster@ci.riverdale-park.md.us" target="_blank">webmaster@ci.riverdale-park.md.us</a>><br>
To: Sue Collins <<a href="mailto:wheadle@yahoo.com" target="_blank">wheadle@yahoo.com</a>><br>Cc: Jonathan W. Ebbeler <<a href="mailto:jebbeler@riverdaleparkmd.gov" target="_blank">jebbeler@riverdaleparkmd.gov</a>>; TownTalk <<a href="mailto:towntalk@riverdale-park.org" target="_blank">towntalk@riverdale-park.org</a>><br>
Sent: Thu, Jan 17, 2013 3:36 pm<br>Subject: Re: [RP TownTalk] Street by Ernie's Lock<br><br></div></div><div><div><div class="h5"><div dir="ltr">The town council has tried several different ways of discouraging cut-through traffic on W. Beale (including putting in a Jersey barrier that would not let traffic get onto East-West Highway). If my memory is correct, some of the businesses, and perhaps some residents, complained and the barrier was removed. <div>
<br></div><div>I think we can ask the police to step up monitoring speeding there at the very least.</div><div><br></div><div>Alan</div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="h5">
On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Sue Collins <span dir="ltr"><<a>wheadle@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;MARGIN:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;PADDING-LEFT:1ex" class="gmail_quote">
<div><div style="FONT-FAMILY:times new roman,new york,times,serif;FONT-SIZE:12pt"><div><div class="h5"><div><span>Oh, I completely agree! Trying to walk across that little road is very chancy, esp. as most of the people making the turn don't seem to remember there's a little gadget in their car called a directional signal. And yes, many of them do go through there at a high rate of speed; too high for such a small street, anyhow. <var></var><br>
</span></div><div><br></div></div></div><div style="FONT-FAMILY:times new roman,new york,times,serif;FONT-SIZE:12pt"><div style="FONT-FAMILY:times new roman,new york,times,serif;FONT-SIZE:12pt"><div><div class="h5"><div dir="ltr">
<font face="Arial"></font><div style="BORDER-BOTTOM:#ccc 1px solid;BORDER-LEFT:#ccc 1px solid;PADDING-BOTTOM:0px;LINE-HEIGHT:0;MARGIN:5px 0px;MIN-HEIGHT:0px;PADDING-LEFT:0px;PADDING-RIGHT:0px;FONT-SIZE:0px;BORDER-TOP:#ccc 1px solid;BORDER-RIGHT:#ccc 1px solid;PADDING-TOP:0px" readonly>
<font face="Arial"></font></div><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">From:</span></b> Maureen <<a>maureen.farrington@gmail.com</a>><br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">To:</span></b> TownTalk <<a>towntalk@riverdale-park.org</a>> <br>
<b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, January 17, 2013 2:52 PM<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT:bold">Subject:</span></b> Re: [RP TownTalk] Street by Ernie's Lock<br></div><br></div></div><div><div>
<div><div><div><div class="h5"><div>We should put in a circle like Mt Ranier at Rte 1 and Queensbury.</div><div><br></div><div>I've seen a ton more people use West Beale from Rte 1 to get to 410. East Beale would be much safer for that maneuver.</div>
<div><br></div><div>-Maureen <br><br>On Jan 17, 2013, at 2:47 PM, bob smith <<a rel="nofollow">sfmc68@verizon.net</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><div></div></div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div><div class="h5"><div>
I have had similar problems during evening traffic and even very early morning.<br>It would be nice if folks would at least drive politely, but traffic is like water, it<br>finds a way to get by.<br>bob smith<br><br>On 1/17/13 2:40 PM, Audrey Bragg wrote:<br>
</div></div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div class="h5"><font color="black" face="arial"></font><div><font color="black" face="arial"><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR:transparent">Hi folks,</font></font></div><div>I just had to go to Ernie's Lock today and I noticed that cars come flying through there from Balt. Blvd to take a short cut to the E-W Highway,</div>
<div>Coming out of the parking lot after I got my keys made was a nightmare. The cars don't go slow, they speed. I also noticed this when coming out of Calvert House. So if that road belongs to the town and the only reason for going on it would be to go to the Bank, Animal Hospital, Calvert House or Ernie's, couldn't we make it "local traffic for businesses only". Just wanted to know if anyone agreed with me before I bug all the council people and the Mayor.</div>
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