Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-25-1970 . BOARD OF RUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, NOVEMBER 25, 1970 -, The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met in regular session in the Municipal, Building, of said City,- .November 25, 1 97.0, at the °hour of 9 .00 a .m. Mr . Howell presiding in the absence of Mr . Cecere, with Mr . Willis present . The following business was had to-wit: III Mr . Willis moved to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, seconded by Mr . Howell and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried . , Mr . Willis ,moved the Board approve the final ,assessment for Improvement Resolution No. , 1093-1970 and set the date for a public hearing December 1.7 , 1970, - at 9: 30 a .m. , _seconded by Mr . Howell , and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried . Mr . -.Howell read the following letter: November 19, 1970 Board - of Public Works City Building ,. .- Richmond, Indiana Dear Sirs : - We would like to publicly thank the Traffic Division -.of the Richmond Police Department for granting the Convention of the Diocese of Indianapolis to process from the Leland Motor Inn to St . Paul ' s Episcopal Church . The Convention br-oke,7onehhour late.:f.or the scheduled parade to III the Church :for the concluding service. The patience and con- sideration. of the . police under this curcumstance' is something else. for which we are grateful . Also, we appreciate the Board of Works giving -us the parade permit i n -,the- first - pl:ace . : So to Captain PauL Martin, the Police and the Board of. Works: many thanks ! . Sincerely, /s/ C , Corydon Randall . Rector . ,Mr . Willis. moved - the Board s.et . December 17, 1970, 10:00 a .m.-for -, opening bids for fourteen (14) poiice .cars , according to specifi - cations prepared by - the Police Department, seconded by Mr . Howell , and on unanimous voice vote - the motion was carried . . Police. Chief Don Strahan recommended .the Board appoint Charles Ray. Hunter probationary police officer, effective December 3, 1.970 . Mr . Willismoved the Board approve ,the :appointment; seconded by Mr . 'Howell , and on unanimous voice. vote the motion was carried . Chief Strahan recommended - the- Board appoint John Richar.&;Farmer as . probationar. y, police officer , effective November._26, L970 . -Mr . -- Willis moved the Board approve the appointment, -.seconded by II . Mr . Howell:; -;and on unanimous. voi_ce•:vote the motion was carried. Traffic Captain- Paul Martin recommended that :the intersection of S.. W. 3rd Street and ,"D".:Street be made a four.-way stop inter- _ section . . __At : the present time the intersection is a two-way stop with.' 3rd Street having the right-of-way . It is .not only - heavily used ,by students from. the - Richmond Senior School,, but also by the smaller children walking -to and from.,Joseph. Moore-.School . . _ Sonsini ' s Grocery Store is located .on- the northeast cornet :of the inter- section which - generates a . large amount of pedestrian traffic from the- schools and the neighborhood. There is also a high volume of traffic entering the intersection created by high school students and others going to and from school or work . Board of Works Minutes November 25, 1970 Page 2 Visibility for motorists goin east. and .west on "D" Street and looking north and south is poor due to 3rd Street being so narrow. Mr . Willis moved the Board approve the Traffic Division recom- mendation, seconded by Mr . Howell , and on unanimous voice vote 11/ the motion was carried . Captain Martin recommended that a left-turn phase be added to the existing trafffic signals at the intersection of S . W. 18th . Street and National Road West - (U .S . .40) . This would include the installation of -two left turn arrows . One arrow would be for motorists going west to south into the Richmond Plaza Shopping Center and the other one for motorists east bound turning north onto Southwest 18th Street . A study of the accident experience at the intersection since January 1 , 1967 shows that a total of 46 accidents has been recorded at this intersection. Out of this total , 22 (or 48%) of them were caused by motorists attempt- ing to negotiate a left turn into the Shopping Center or onto Southwest 18th Street, and being struck by oncoming traffic moving in the curb or through lane . The vision of the oncoming traffic is obstructed by a vehicle or vehicles stopped to make a turn left from the center lane. It is our opinion that the installation of the two left turn arrows with the restriction, "Left Turn on Green Arrown Only", will greatly reduce the accident experience at this intersection. State . Highway concurrence will be needed. with the Board ' s approval . _ _ If the State Highway Department approves this recommendation, they would install the arrows . Mr . Willis moved the Board approve the recommendation, subject to State Highway approval , seconded by Mr . Howell ; and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried. Captai.n Martin reported that he has met with Councilman Paust and Mrs . Hurd regarding the Councilman ' s request for an adult school crossing guard at South 5th and "P" Streets . He said the intersection had been studied in March, 1969 and at that time it was found that the traffic did not warrant a guard. There has been no change. Captain Mzrtin said that -.he is study- ing the possibility of installing a 20 MPH flasher . A Council Ordinance would be needed . He is looking into the cost of the installation. The adult school crossing guard program is limited, he explained; by financial limitations as well as by the •number of people available :for this work . - The Traffic '•Division would welcome volunteer mothers to supervise these intersections:. Captain Martin recommended that a fully actuated automatic traffic signal be_.installed at .the intersection of Whitewater Boulevard and Chester Boulevard (U .S . 27) , for the purpose of attempting to reduce the accident experience -we are recording at this - intersection . A study has been made of this intersection and as of ' January 1 , 1968, we have recorded a total of 24 accidents, .with - l4 of .these being the right angle type whereby a motorist attempts to drive off -of the Boulevard onto Chester Boulevard and- is struck by either a north or south bound vehicle . A majority of the vehicles that have been struck attempting to drive onto Chester Boulevard are struck by north bound vehicles . -There are four -reasons we feel that are causing _a majority of the accidents at this intersection: 1 . Traffic coming off of White- water Boulevard must cross four lanes - of traffic to go north on Chester Boulevard, 2 . Whitewater Boulevard intersects with .Chester . Boulevard;at:.an angle, 3 . The railing on the bridge at the intersection obscures the vision of north bound traffic for mot.ori:sts driving off of Whitewater Boulevard, and 4. The high volume of traffic north -and south on Chester Boulevard. Board of Works Minutes November 25, 1970 Page 3 A traffic count was taken at the intersection on October 28, 1970 and it showed that there were a total of 13 , 790 vehicles entering the intersection during the 12 hour period from 6: 00 A.M . to 6: 00 P .M . Of this total , 1 ,320 vehicles entered the intersection off of Whitewater Boulevard. The peak hour - during the period on Chester Boulevard was 1 ,539 and the peak hour on Whitewater Boulevard was 177 . I also would like to point out to ,the Board that we have been advised by the staff of Reid Hospital that they have. made plans to construct the main exit and entrance drive of the hospital at the intersection of Whitewater Boulevard and Chester Boule- vard . They hope to have the new driveway completed by the fall of 1971 . In that case', there will be a need for a signal at this intersection at that time due to the increase of, high volume traffic in and out of the new hospital driveway that will be generated . Due to the new construction work now going on at Reid Hospital and the closing of the south driveway, a hazardous traffic situa- tion' has been created at the north driveway of the hospital . During the hours , approximately 3 :00 p.m. to 5: 30 p.m. , motor- ists get bottled-up on the hospital driveway and are waiting up to seven (7) minutes before they are able to get a break or gap in traffic on Chester Boulevard to pull out . There are approximately 750 employees at the hospital phus 60 doctors plus hundreds of visitors using this driveway . The hospital has made a request to the State Highway Department for a tem- porary signal at this driveway with the stipulation that it be removed upon completion of their new driveway . If the Whitewater Boulevard signal were installed, we could set the signals at Waterfall Road and Chester Boulevard and the proposed signal at Whitewater Boulevard so there would be created a definite gap in traffic on Chester Boulevard . This gap in traffic would help eliviate the congestion at the driveway of the hospital . We feel that there is a need for a signal at the intersection of Whitewater Boulevard and Chester Boulevard at this time. State Highway concurrence will be needed with the Board ' s approval . Mr . Willis said he felt that of all the recommendations , this one should have first priority and we should so indicate to the State Highway . - Mr . Willis moved the Board approve the recom- mendation, subject to State Highway approval , seconded by Mr . Howell , and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried . Fire Chief William Berry recommended the Board appoint David Harold White as probationary fireman, effective November 30, 1970, Mr . Willis moved the Board approve the appointment, sec- onded by Mr . Howell , and on unanimous voice vote the motion was carried . Chief Berry reported that he is checking on Park Commissioner McBride ' s request for fire protection for Conservation Park . ill He said the water lines needed to be determined in the area, and he would have a recommendation at a later date. The contractor for the sewer on the West Side reported that dynamiting is progressing nicely and shock readings have proven so slight that Gas Company objections seem to have been overcome. He reported that the use of dynamite has saved at least two to three months of work time . The Board told him to continue under the same conditions of extreme caution. Street Commissioner Elmer Toschlog reported that the 9th Street bridge could use some exterminating work, some birds being in evidence . He recommended the Board contract with the exterm- inator , provided the exterminating process would be a contin- uing one, as needed . Board of Works Minutes V November 25, 1970 Page 4 Commissioner Toschlog expressed concern over the safety of the 20th Century Bridge aVnd of the MainStreet Bridge.. Engineer Ralph Willis said he would take care of the 20th Century Bridge, A shifting of the pavement has been noticed on- the Main Street Bridge and the Clerk was asked to notify the State Highway Department of the conditions and to request an ; i ns pec i t i on report . Commissioner Toschlog said the 10th Street overpass is also in poor shape, but he assumed the State Highway :i s aware .,of: .the condition... Commissioner Toschlog reported that he has talked: to .the owner of the Holiday Inn concerning a storm water channel . The. Holiday Inn people: will pay the cost and th.e :Street Department, wi l .l -do the work . r . There being no further business on motion duly made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned . /s.t Charles Howell ATTEST: < Lotte Hoskins ,. Clerk of the Board -