Summary from Thursday's Meeting hosted by Todd Klein

Mary Vines submits the following summary of the meeting hosted by District 3 City Coucilman Todd Klein at Roscoe Wilson Elementary to discuss Flint Avenue traffic concerns on Thursday August 6th. Thursday evening, August 6, at a meeting in the Roscoe Wilson Library chaired by Councilman Todd Klein , the discussion was devoted to the Flint Avenue traffic issue. City Engineer Marsha Reed and Traffic Engineer Sharmon Owens were introduced by Mr. Klein. The discussion started with the question about the ordinance passed at the last City Council meeting deactivating the 20 mph speed limit and flashing school zone light at 26th and Flint . As explained by Sharmon Owens, a deactivation request to the City of Lubbock for that intersection was initiated by Tom Nichols, the LISD administrator in charge of school safety issues. The request resulted in a City of Lubbock Traffic Engineering study this past May regarding the usage of the school crosswalk at 26th and Flint . The criteria for having the protected school zone crosswalk is for ten persons to use the crosswalk during the one hour during which the flashing light is activated. The average for 26th Street and Flint Avenue was less than three persons during the six different hours (three in morning and three in afternoon) that the count was made while the light was flashing. With this information that the intersection did not meet the necessary criteria, the City proceeded with the ordinance to follow through on the request by LISD. Numerous opinions were expressed about the need for the protection of the light and the lowered speed on Flint Avenue , and questions were asked about how to reverse the decision of the Council. City Engineer Marsha Reed said the quickest way would be to appeal the school zone flashing light decision to the Citizens Traffic Commission at their August 18 meeting. That would need to be followed by having the issue placed on the City Council agenda, which Todd Klein said that he would try to facilitate. The Roscoe Wilson Elementary principal, Paula Finney, will make the courtesy call to Tom Nichols to inform him that the neighborhood residents and Roscoe Wilson PTA are making the request to rescind the Council action. Since it is unlikely that additional studies and research will show that the criteria of 10 students crossing has been met, the appeal to the Council will be made on the uniqueness of our Central Lubbock neighborhood situation as a gateway bearing an inordinate amount of pedestrian, bicycle, and fast-moving vehicular traffic carrying students, faculty, and staff to Texas Tech. If the City Council decides to reactivate the school zone on Flint , it will not be done before the beginning of school. The overall issue of speed on Flint Avenue was a topic of discussion and was addressed by both Ms Owens and Ms Reed, as well as by neighborhood residents, Roscoe Wilson parents from outside the neighborhood, and by Bill Lowell, Laurin Prather, and James Mahan, neighborhood association leaders who’ve been working with the city traffic engineering department on this challenge for three years. Sharmon Owens, traffic engineer, explained that reflective yellow disks have been placed at the center of the intersection of 23rd Street and Flint Avenue and white disks at the bike lanes. The purpose of these disks is to create a perception of narrower lanes, which should have the effect of causing motorists to go slower. After the fall semester starts at Texas Tech, another study will be run at this intersection to see whether speeds are decreasing. If the disks prove successful in reducing speeds, others may be placed at various locations on Flint Avenue . Another possibility for slowing traffic mentioned by Ms Owens is the use of rumble strips (several strips resembling “petrified water hoses”) though one resident who has experience with rumble strips cautioned that those might be excessively noisy. Those who’ve worked with the City Traffic Engineering Department on the problem reemphasized a point previously made by Ms Owens that the traffic on Flint has been calmed from above 40 mph to around 35 mph, with hopes that further action will bring it within the 30 mph speed limit. James Mahan, president of the UNIT/Tech Terrace Neighborhood Association, recommended that since they already have a working relationship with Traffic Engineering, Bill Lowell and Laurin Prather should be contacted by anyone else who would like to volunteer to work on the challenge of calming traffic on Flint Avenue and Boston Avenue . As the meeting was being adjourned, Cyd Seideman, neighborhood association treasurer and property owner on 25th Street , made an announcement that at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting later this month, Lowe’s Grocery will request a variance to change their loading/unloading dock area from Boston Avenue to the Canton Avenue side of the store, already narrowed by recycling bins. Although Lowe’s has not yet filed a license request for package alcoholic beverage sales, the variance is thought to be a preparatory move for the alcoholic beverage request. With the possibility of eighteen-wheelers using 25th Street and Canton , concerns were expressed for the safety of school children and for the intrusion of heavy truck traffic into the neighborhood. On the City of Lubbock website, the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting is listed as Thursday, August 20, at 8:15 a.m. Any interested citizen may attend and register to speak.