Friday, December 10, 2010

FYI and if you want to contribute

From: Charlessands 
Date: December 10, 2010 5:31:00 PM PST
Subject: Fwd: I'm opening an open forum for residents to discuss their views about the current Evergreen Ave sidewalk plans.

 
 
Happy Holidays, Hanaka, Eid and a Merry Christmas
 
Charles


-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Garriott 
To: SaveEvergreenAve <SaveEvergreenAve@gmail.com>
Cc: hvbeat <hvbeat@gmail.com>
Sent: Fri, Dec 10, 2010 2:58 pm
Subject: Fwd: I'm opening an open forum for residents to discuss their views about the current Evergreen Ave sidewalk plans.

Bcc: SaveEvergreen, Hearus, & Madrone Park Circle Group  Hello Neighbors,  This is a message sent from Homestead resident Paula Wegeforth replying to my email about the open forum for residents to discuss their views about the current Evergreen Ave sidewalk plans.  Feel free to comment on my initial email and the replies!  The emails I recieve will be collected and sent to the County Reps.  Sincerly,  Keith Garriott   ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Private Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 15:46:31 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: I'm opening an open forum for residents to discuss their views about the current Evergreen Ave sidewalk plans. To: Keith Garriott <saveevergreenave@gmail.com>  Dear Keith,  As I travel down Montford onto Melrose and then Evergreen whenever I leave my home on Pixie Trail, it is more than apparent to me that ANY reducing of the width of the street is going to pose more of a hazard than improving the roadway for pedestrians or cyclists.  At night, when people are home and parked on both sides of Evergreen, it is barely wide enough for one car.  Today, when I came home at 1:00 pm, cars were parked on both sides of Melrose, waiting to pick up children.  Again, a sidewalk would have made it impassable for more than one car to get through.  I am HIGHLY opposed to the idea of putting in a sidewalk of any width for these reasons, not to mention the diminishment of the esthetic appeal and the country feel of our roads.  I have other friends in MV, and have always been grateful that my valley (Homestead) doesn't have the narrow roads they do.  Paula Wegeforth XXX Pixie Trail Mill Valley, CA  --- On Wed, 12/8/10, Keith Garriott <saveevergreenave@gmail.com> wrote:  > From: Keith Garriott <saveevergreenave@gmail.com> > Subject: I'm opening an open forum for residents to discuss their views about  the current Evergreen Ave sidewalk plans. > To: SaveEvergreenAve@gmail.com > Cc: "Hamar, Rosalind" <RHamar@marinhorizon.org>, "Christina Oldenburg"  <mcrolden@gmail.com>, "Al Wuthnow" <alwuthnow@gmail.com>, "Kristin Cann"  <kristincann@hotmail.com>, "Trigg McLeod" <findtrigg@gmail.com>, "M Hunn"  <merhunn@sbcglobal.net>, "HEAR US" <hearus@googlegroups.com>, "Charlessands  Sands" <charlessands@aol.com>, "Steven Kinsey" <skinsey@co.marin.ca.us>, "Liza  Crosse" <lcrosse@co.marin.ca.us>, descobar@co.marin.ca.us, ctackabery@co.marin.ca.us,  "sschneider" <sschneider@co.marin.ca.us>, "fmansourian" <fmansourian@co.marin.ca.us>,  "eklock" <eklock@co.marin.ca.us>, "bbeaumont" <bbeaumont@co.marin.ca.us> > Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 3:40 PM > Bcc: Save Evergreen, Hearus, Madrone > Park Circle Groups > > Hello Homestead Neighbors, > > I was outside my house on Evergreen Ave at around 6:30 PM > Monday night > when I heard the sound of a fire engine and ambulance with > sirens on > coming down Linden Lane and turning onto Evergreen Ave > heading > westbound up the street. I couldn't help but to notice how > it seemed > the fire engine had just enough room to make the turn onto > Evergreen > Ave while using the other side of the street to complete > it's turning > maneuver. The intersection here measures approximately 26 > feet wide in > the travel lanes. > > As I was looking up the street as the fire engine proceeded > foward, it > looked as though with cars parked along the street, there > was only > enough room for the fire engine and ambulance following to > travel in > the both travel lanes leaving no room for a vehicle > traveling in the > opposite direction. > > I figure this was because of the speed the emergency > vehicles needed > to travel in the event of an emergency response and > maneuver it > safely, while driving up a straight away portion of the > street that is > measured at approximately 22 feet wide with cars parked > along the side > of the road. > > Then I looked down the street to see a fire truck with > siren flashing > moving at a speed of typical emergency response heading > around the > turn in the road between Ethel and Linden Lane on Evergreen > Ave. > > It looked to me that the fire truck, in order to maneuver > the vehicle > at that speed, needed to travel in almost the middle of the > street, > leaving no room for a vehicle traveling in the opposite > direction. > > A pedestrian was also walking on the north side of the > street along > the turn as the fire truck was passing. The fire truck > moved further > past the middle of the street to accomodate room for the > pedestrian to > walk safely. (The same case would be for a bicyclist > traveling up the > north side.) > > This portion of Evergreen Ave measures approximately 26 > feet wide in > the travel lanes. > > Note: (Of course by law a vehicle traveling in the path of > an > emergency vehicle with sirens flashing is required to pull > to the side > to give plenty of room for passing, but what if there's no > room to > pull over because of the street being newly narrowed as the > proposed > plans call for?) > > During my observation, I came to the conclusion that this > verified > what I figured about the new proposed sidewalk being > possibly too wide > to accommodate for safe travel of all types of vehicles > that travel > along this street. (Especially in the sections noted to be > narrower > that other sections.) > > Why would any plan for improvement on this street ignore > the fact that > this current plan could make it potentially difficult and > slow the > response of an emergency vehicle en route to an emergency > call? > > Why would a plan to make it safer for students to walk and > bicycle to > school ignore the needs for the safety of the bicyclists > riding on the > proposed narrower road; limit wheelchair access across the > street from > the new sidewalk; and jeopardize general road safety for > vehicles? > > I think we can do better that saying: "Let's just see how > it goes and > hope for the best." > > You know how the saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix > it." > > But it's obvious that there's an interest in an > "improvement" to be > made on Evergreen Avenue for the purpose of making it safer > for > children walking and bicycling to Marin Horizon School. > > If any residents out here have made some observations > lately about > Evergreen Ave concerning the currently proposed sidewalk > plans and > possible issues that may arouse from it, then feel free to > write about > it to me. > > I'm giving the residents of Homestead a chance to discuss > this topic > in an open forum, to share with what other residents may > feel about > this change coming to (the not broken) Evergreen Avenue. > > If you would like to comment on what I metioned in my > observation, > please feel free to drop an email to me at your leisure, > whether > you're pro, against, undecided, or open to working as a > community that > wants to work with the County Representatives & DPW to > make sure the > proper sidewalk is installed on Evergreen Avenue. > > If you write in, I'll foward your message with other > residents > responses and send them all to the County Representatives > & DPW and > promise to keep your email address private if you prefer. > > Please feel free to pass this along to your Homestead > neighbors > concerned about the future improvements on Evergreen > Avenue. > > Sorry I couldn't make the HVCA meeting on Tuesday. I didn't > know the > sidewalk topic was on their agenda. If anybody concerned > about the > sidewalk plans went, please fill me in on if you or any > other > concerned Homestead residents are getting through to (the > HVCA) about > this being a serious concern of the residents at these > meetings! > > I'll be at tonights meeting for the Joint MHS/Homestead > Valley > Committee Meeting. > > http://www.homesteadvalley.org/jadworks/hvca/jwsuite.nsf/ViewSelection/14F5E1A9CAAC5898882577ED00738853?Open&site=Home*ViewSelection=Highlights** > > Holiday Cheers, > > Keith Garriott > > (Homestead Resident) >
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