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Minutes of the Meeting of June 24, 1999 Page 10 Ms. Bergman stated that in other communities, four to five foot high walls have been erected along high traffic corridors to protect residential neighborhoods. She stated that she did not feel that asking for the closing of 87th and 89th Avenue was doing more than that; protecting the neighborhood and its children. Ms. Bergman stated she has witnessed heavy traffic loads, speeding traffic, ignoring of stop signs, detouring traffic through this residential neighborhood, and children playing in the streets or coming into the street to retrieve a ball. She suggested the speed estimates were under rated since drivers most often slow their vehicle when they see a speed trailer. Ms. Bergman stated the Initiative was going to draft a proposal to the Council and then it was teamed that some neighbors were not aware of their initiative and had been working with City staff to address their concerns. She advised that at a meeting held one resident of a dead end road adamantly objected to a closure and another from outside of the area objected to the closure because he used it as a cut -thru route. Ms. Bergman stated that as a result of that meeting and indication there was no understanding or respect of property along Davenport Avenue by drivers through the neighborhood, she walked out of the meeting and has not participated further. She stated she still supported closing 89th Avenue to eliminate cut -thru traffic. She suggested the only option to protect the neighborhood children was to close 89th Avenue and she felt that not closing 87th Avenue should still impact their safety. Ms. Bergman stated she understands those living on 89th Avenue may not be in support, but she believed it was the only option. She pleaded with residents to think of the entire neighborhood as opposed to their own single interest. Debbie Lovett, 1544 87th Avenue, reviewed a route she walked through the neighborhood to circulate a petition. She reported that 82 residents were against the closure of 89th Avenue and 10 were in support of the closure. She stated that in presenting the petition to close 89th Avenue, she asked one question: if you were southbound on Highway 65 wouldn't you turn on 85th Avenue or would you take 89th Avenue and use the frontage road to come home. The majority said the frontage road because of the hassle of 85th Avenue. She stated that there were 50 children and four more expected in this neighborhood. She stated there was a park across the street with a ball field and putting traffic on 87th Avenue may cause more safety concems. She suggested posting a counter to determine how many use 87th Avenue off the frontage road for one week, place the temporary barrier and do another one week count to determine how the traffic on 87th Avenue will be increased. Becky Butler, 8755 Baltimore Street, stated she was a 15 -year resident and when the petition was presented to her, it was obvious Ms. Lovett was against the closure. Ms. Butler stated she had already signed a petition in support of the closure to increase safety. She stated she plans to live in this neighborhood for many more years and does not want to cause any more problems but would support a temporary closure. She advised there was a problem with speeding traffic and littering and she feels strongly about this issue. Amy Tumock, 8809 Davenport Street, stated she was a 7 -year resident with 5 children and had noticed an increase in traffic which she believed was a result of cut -thru traffic to avoid the signal light, not neighborhood traffic. She stated she was not asked to sign the petition but would have signed in support of temporary closure to see what happens with the traffic. She stated if it was made more difficult to cut thru, drivers would realize it does not save time. Jennifer Nelson, 8817 Central Avenue, stated she has 13 brothers and sisters who like to run to the street. She stated they do not need any more traffic due to the closure. She stated that she does not want to see any of the neighborhood children hurt and she believed a closure would make the traffic worse. She stated there were a lot of children in this neighborhood and she does not support the closure.