Dear Council Members,
I have been an active member of the Willows traffic task force for about a year. I decided to get involved with this committee because I care about where I live and its future. My husband and I moved into the Willows about 5 years ago and were encouraged to start and raise a family here by seeing all the new young families moving in.  

Traffic in the Willows seems to be a hotly debated issue. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions based on my own experience and observations, I reviewed traffic and crime data collected in the past few years. Those increasing numbers in combination with anticipated traffic impacts of furture developments around the Willows landed me on the side that there are issues and they need to be fully reviewed. The Willows traffic study is a fair, unbiased, unemotional and responsible approach to help solve traffic issues (and perhaps this perpetual debate). This is not a fanatical undertaking, but a clear headed output of several meetings attended by hundreds of Willows residents who wanted to see improvements made in their neighborhood, without pitting neighbor against neighbor. We want questions like these answered:  

1. Were our streets constructed to carry the amount of traffic we currently experience?
2. Do we have cut-through traffic that is sub-standard to acceptable tolerance levels for a neighborhood?
3. What will be the impact of traffic on the Willows given the new developments surrounding the Willows?
4. Do our 13 access points and proximity to the freeway, make our neighborhood a target for crime?
5. Are our current traffic calming devices (speedbumps, stop signs, speed limits etc) optimal in quantity and placement?

Can we answer these questions accurately without a study? Once we have answers to these questions, then we can have a fair debate of the recommendations.  

I respect that some long time residents are nervous that this is deja vu, but we can't live our lives in the past. It's a new day. The neighborhood has changed with many new families with young kids. On my block alone 4 houses have turned over from retirees to families with children. I have to believe this is the case throughout the Willows. We weren't here 10 years ago. University Circle wasn't here 10 years ago. All we know is what we hear, see and experience on the streets today. And what we are experiencing today has left us wanting improvement.  

Please fund this study. As I quote one of you, "Let's not be scared to try". Thank you for your consideration.  

Megan Iwersen
Woodland Ave Received on Sun Mar 30 10:33:47 2008