On behalf of Jordan resident Tania Branitski, Jordan Senior City Planner Joe Janish presented a request for improvements at the intersection of Stuart and Hillside drives and Hillside Avenue. The intersection of Woodland Circle and Hillside Drive is also nearby. 

According to Janish, who told the city council about the request Aug. 6, Branitski called the three-street intersection unsafe and confusing for pedestrians, as well as expressing concern about people walking to Lagoon Park having nowhere to go but in the street. There are no crosswalks at the intersection, which is near the southern-most entrance into Lagoon Park. 

The city council decided this week to table, rather than deny, the request -- even though the public safety commission recommended during its meeting July 24 that the council deny the proposal.

If the city had a plan, Janish said, it could identify key sections of sidewalks to build and budget for them in the capital improvement plan.

According to Janish, the commission opposed the request for three reasons:

- A crosswalk at the intersection would lead to the street, as there is no sidewalk to which it could connect after crossing.

- Installing a sidewalk would be an option, but the costs outweighed the benefits.

- There has been no history of accidents that would show that this intersection is unsafe.

"Personally, I would like to see a sidewalk there," Councilmember Sally Schultz said. 

"A crosswalk would make sense," Councilmember Jeremy Goebel said.

But Mayor Ron Jabs suggested a plan for sidewalks and trails be completed by the city, before the council approves a sidewalk or crosswalk at the intersection. And Janish said the city had already completed a survey of existing sidewalks -- identifying the missing links that are priorities would be the next step in bettering the city's system of trails.

Various proposals for sidewalks and crosswalks have come before the council recently, and few have made it to fruition. 

A few years ago, Hillside Drive had served as one of the main routes to the Jordan Public Schools. Councilmembers said that cars sped down the street, causing accidents at the intersection of Highway 21 and Sawmill Road, before the intersection was closed off. 

"There's not a lot of traffic," said Councilmember Barry Ullmann, who lives along Stuart Drive. "It's steady at times, but not as much as it used to be."

In the case of the intersection of Hillside and Stuart drives and Hillside Avenue, safety was the reason officials gave for not making improvements, as well as the reason others argued for improvements.

"We're negligent if we don't put them there," Councilmember Mike Shaw said. "Everybody doesn't share that view, but those are my thoughts."

Shaw likened the situation to a failed proposal for a crosswalk near Jordan Elementary School. He argued that telling walkers where they should walk and telling drivers where walkers would improve safety on the city streets.

Opponents of plans along Hillside and Stuart drives and Hillside Avenue said that a crosswalk would lead walkers to nowhere.

"You're not giving them a safe haven," Public Works Director Dave Bendzick said. "You're leading them into a lane of traffic."

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