Outline and packet for Hot Springs - City Board

Presented 6/19/2006 Requested to be included in the meeting minutes

 

A “YES” vote means your must ignore the following facts:          

 

Violation of Comprehensive Plan, Code, Programs, Planning

1
 
MPO 2005-2007 Transportation Improvement Program calls for wider roadways and additional turn lanes.  Not reducing roadway widths and fewer lanes.

            One of the five primary goals of Focus Garland County - Vision 2010 states:    

Improve traffic flow on Central Ave. through the downtown area.

2
 
 


Making the 2-lane roadway permanent violates the city’s comprehensive plan and code.

City of Hot Springs Comprehensive Plan (page 103) and Hot Springs Street Specification Code Article III (15-10-14.1) specify 4-lanes for all of Central Avenue.

           

                                                                                                                       

No valid traffic survey exists

            CBID III survey used traffic flow data that conflicts with ASHTD data

            CBID III study did not obtain input from ASHTD or sheriff, police, fire, and EMS

            Even if the study were valid, what has been done varies greatly 

 

 

Negative Impact to Hot Springs Economy

3
 
            Detrimental to tourism and economic development

Letter from HS Convention & Visitors Bureau: states “detrimental effect”   “devastating to downtown”   “End the test program now”

 

Public Safety

4
 
            The 90-day Trial Period lasted over 7 months and has proven to be a complete failure.

Accidents: List of 36 accidents during trial period compared to no accidents during six months prior to the bottleneck.

 

            Known Safety Hazards not corrected could result in future lawsuits

 

 

5
 
U.S. Department of Transportation - National Highway Traffic Safety Admin Statistics: Most pedestrian accidents occur at intersections, the next greatest number occur while “Emerging from in Front of/Behind Parked Vehicles” and “Getting on/off Vehicle Other Than School Bus.”  For pedestrian accidents where “Driver Vision Obscured” was a contributing factor, “in most cases, standing traffic or parked vehicles on the side of the road obscured the driver’s vision.”

6
 
 


Slows or restricts Emergency Responders.  They don’t want the bottleneck: Comments from Sheriff, Police, and Fire Departments plus EMS     

           

           

7
 
Citizens Don’t Want the Bottleneck

City’s 2003 Citizen Survey by UALR finds great majority of citizens consider Hot Springs suffers greatly from congested conditions.

8
 
 


            Overwhelming majority of citizens want the bottleneck removed – Petitions

 

 

Alternative Solutions

Due to the fact that a small handful of property owners have exerted an inordinate amount of misleading political pressure, a referendum may be the best answer. 

 

Even an extended trial period may be beneficial and would avoid tearing up the streets during tourist season.     

 

 

 

Copies of sheets following were provided to the city board. See attachment list following:

 

  1. Focus Garland County – Vision 2010.  A county-wide comprehensive plan.  The transportation section is available by clicking here. 

 

  1. The City of Hot Springs Comprehensive Plan.  Adopted 1998 and re-adopted in 2000.  See the plan and Hot Springs code section violations.  See the entire comprehensive plan here then move to page 103 to see street width requirements.

 

 

  1. Letter to city manager and all city board members from the Director of the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau telling them how a 2-lane roadway with parking will have a “detrimental effect” and be “devastating to downtown,” etc.  Click here to access

 

  1. List of the accidents in the bottleneck since what was the inception of the 2-lane with parking “trial period.”  Click here to access

 

 

  1.  Excerpts from news items with references to Pedestrian Accident Statistics from the Department of Motor Vehicles and from the U.S. Department of Transportation – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Click here to access

 

  1. Summation of comments from Sheriff’s Department, Police Department, Fire Department, Ambulance Service Companies, others.  Click here to access

 

 

  1. Excerpts from 2003 Citizen Survey performed by UALR for the City of Hot Springs showing that Hot Springs residents were united in an unfavorable perception that traffic conditions suffer greatly from congested conditions.  The document also has a link to the entire document complete with results for all areas surveyed.  Click here to access

 

  1. Petitions with approximately 500 signatures complete with names, signatures, addresses, phone numbers, etc.  Due to the fact that we now have approximately 1,000 signatures with the list growing daily plus the fact that this data would require an inordinate amount of space to scan and store, this information is not presently available on the website.  We hope to copy and provide the data once the drive has stopped and the information has been provided to all appropriate state agencies.