Laserfiche WebLink
Re: Bristol Street Widening Project <br />Our Historic Washington Square Neighborhood has waited for a long time for the widening of <br />Bristol along our western border. The amendment to the EIR that has been twice postponed for a <br />voted does not adequately address the scope of the needs of the public in general and residents of <br />Washington Square in particular. <br />1. Proposed "Visibility Wall" is not high enough. <br />2. Bristol/Washington Intersection needs reconfiguration to accommodate traffic flow <br />and mitigate serious safety issues. <br />3. "Full Take" plan should NOT be modified to insure Vehicular and Pedestrian Safety <br />on the east side of Bristol from Washington Ave. to 17th <br />4. Blighted Vacant lot (City- Owned) at NE Corner Washington and Bristol needs <br />remediation sooner rather than later. <br />Here are our concerns and recommendations regarding these points <br />POINT 1: We believe the proposal is for an 8 foot wall. An 8 foot wall is 2 feet too short to <br />protect Louise Street residents behind it from the noise and pollution increase resulting from the <br />addition of 2 more lanes of traffic on Bristol. <br />Looking forward, If you build an 8 foot wall there, then those of us who live on Louise between <br />Washington and Civic Center will have to put up with an 8 foot wall when that section of Bristol <br />is widened. Current residents and homeowners behind the Chevron Station and In `N Out Burger <br />live with the continuing problem of noise and people throwing trash or jumping over the existing <br />wall into their yards . An 8 foot wall is too easy to scale and pretty easy to throw stuff over. <br />We believe a 9 foot wall would be a reasonable compromise that most of us could reluctantly <br />support. <br />POINT 2: The intersection of Bristol and Washington is a huge problem and this will be our only <br />opportunity to correct it. This intersection is the main entry and egress from our neighborhood. <br />As it is, it is dangerous and inadequate to handle traffic flow. <br />We need a Left Turn Arrow to allow vehicles southbound on Bristol to turn east onto <br />Washington. Routinely, northbound Bristol cars run the light, putting left - tumers, who are in <br />middle of the intersection, in danger. There have been numerous accidents as a result, some <br />resulting in fatalities. <br />We need a Right Turn Lane for vehicles Westbound on Washington who need to go North onto <br />Bristol which would allow them to turn right on the red light. As it is, vehicles continuing west <br />on Washington block those needing to turn right until the light changes. That green light is very <br />short. Vehicles are backed up for 1 to 3 blocks in mornings and afternoons with traffic going to <br />and from Wilson School and in the early morning and late afternoons when people are going to <br />and coming from work. The City owns the vacant lot on the northeast comer of Washington and <br />