THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508250164
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
The city should move slowly - and very deliberately - before it closes streets, takes out bridges and causeways or otherwise alters traffic patterns without a traffic reason.
Initially, it seemed like a logical request to take out a causeway between Waterview and Westhaven. The traffic that speeds through Waterview down Shenandoah after turning off the Churchland Bridge on High Street is horrendous - more than 7,000 vehicles a day, many of them speeding.
I am sympathetic.
But I also am concerned about the trend toward neighborhoods wanting to keep everybody but themselves off their streets.
Shea Terrace wants to take out the Leckie Street bridge to keep people out. At one point, some residents of West Park View wanted to take out a Spratley Street causeway for the same reason.
Some Glensheallah residents not too long ago suggested putting gates on their streets, making it impossible to cut through their neighborhood via Hartford Street. Port Norfolk folks would like to keep through traffic off Mount Vernon Avenue.
And, of course, we already have the precedent of Olde Towne, where residents have their own gate they use at the drop of a hat. Everybody understands the need to block the streets during special festivals and on fireworks nights. But I'm not sure the residents ought to have the privilege of blocking a public street anytime they feel like it. The use of the gate should be reserved for truly big events.
Tuesday night several residents of Waterview made eloquent pleas to City Council to remove the causeway on Caroline Street.
They talked of other cars passing them when they drive at the 25 mph speed limit. They talked of strangers in the neighborhood.
As they spoke, I kept thinking, ``This is a police problem,'' or, ``This is a traffic engineering problem.''
Why hasn't the city put more stop signs on the streets people take through Waterview and then policed them, giving out tickets all over the place? That's the quickest way ever known to change people's bad driving habits.
Or why not put stop signs on all streets except the one that goes straight through Waterview from High to the Caroline causeway and which does not have houses fronting on it? Along with making it the throughway, the city could impose a 15 mph speed limit and make it stick by handing out a bunch of tickets. That could set into motion the notion that going through Waterview doesn't save any time and might even cost you time and money.
In fact, since speeding and reckless driving are presented as the major problems, why hasn't the police department's traffic division already done something? By and large, the traffic through Waterview is repeat traffic. Most strangers don't know it's a short cut from one part of town to another.
Drivers would mind their manners if they never knew when traffic officers were going to pop up behind them, blue lights turning.
The fact is, there are answers to the Waterview problem. The city just has to decide to deal with the causes, not the causeway.
If the city acquiesces and takes out the causeway, it is opening the way for more demands from people who seem to forget that public streets are public streets.
Also, we wonder when the public is going to realize that city streets are paid for by all of us. Everybody has a right to use them. Those who abuse them should be punished.
Closing a street or removing a bridge punishes everybody.
I guess I'm especially aware of the consequences because the streets people want to keep others off of are some of my favorite routes across town. I go to Glensheallah via Port Norfolk and Hartford Street. I go to West Norfolk or the Western Freeway via Mount Vernon Avenue. To get on Portsmouth Boulevard I take the route through City Park, sometimes getting there by way of the Caroline causeway and sometimes from Rodman to King Street.
Taking a slow ride through town during a busy, stressful day is a pleasure I don't want to forgo, nor should I be forced to do so.
Rather the people who speed and who otherwise create disturbances in neighborhoods should be diverted or punished. by CNB