Reject the proposed School Woods plan

I am writing this to express my opposition to the proposed plan for the School Woods.  Beyond the loss of trails, the increased residential and “cut-through” traffic through two established neighborhoods, and the violation of existing wetlands, it is a shame to have lost a potential open space and park area.

This is especially true in a city having the least park land of any in the area  (4.7 acres of park acreage per 1,000 residents in Newcastle, compared to Renton’s 12.7 acres and Bellevue’s 21.2).

Further, the proposed development shows a complete lack of imagination and respect for the land. The site plan as it stands is in the perfect image of California practice:  Flatten for building pad, drop, flatten for building pad, drop again, flatten for building pad, drop again, etc., extending over the entire site. This is a forced, high-density housing development that shows little or no sympathy and respect for existing neighborhood ambiance.

The only unbuilt land shown on the proposed plot plan is that which is considered unbuildable and is thus entitled variously “Open Space” and “Recreation.” One chain-link fenced “Water Retention” pond is actually located precisely where there now stands the largest Douglas fir timber on the site (or in the area), a stand that could be easily preserved. Further, it appears that both “Water Retention” ponds do no more than serve to collect drainage directly from the street system and disgorge it onto adjacent lands outside the limits of the development.

So much for the enhancement of Newcastle.

Please reject this plan.

Tom Liethen

Newcastle

Thanks, elected officials, for speed humps

I want to thank the mayor and City Council for the level of concern extended to the residents of Southeast 74th and Southeast 75th street corridors in relation to the installation of speed humps to slow traffic down for our safety.

Although I am disappointed at Carol Simpson’s response that she was “tired of paying for repair costs to her car due to the speed humps in her neighborhood currently,” I am very pleased the balance of the City Council members voted in favor of installing speed humps as a permanent solution to the high rate of speed exhibited on our streets and to bring us in line with what every other street has for safety in and out of our neighborhood.

We thank the City Council for working with us to find a solution.

Kelly Clark

Newcastle

Newcastle resident Jo Ann Pancheri often sits in her home, peering out the window, clutching her phone and waiting for the worst.

Her house sits at the intersection of Southeast 75th Street and 125th Place Southeast, a corridor where neighbors have repeatedly asked for traffic-calming measures.

Pancheri has an unobstructed view to the speeding and near-miss accidents that community members say plague the neighborhood.

“I wait every day with my phone waiting to call 911,” she told the Newcastle City Council on July 21, illustrating her fear of witnessing a major accident.

Neighbor after neighbor told similar stories of heart-pounding close calls and a reluctance to let children play in the front yard due to speeding concerns.

“This is an accident waiting to happen,” resident Laura Peterson said. “I would hate to see changes being made because there’s been a tragedy that has occurred on our street.”

The community wanted speed humps installed, and residents have relayed that message to the council at more than one town-hall meeting and past council meetings.

This time, however, residents got their wish. At its July 21 meeting, the Newcastle City Council directed its public works department to install speed humps on the Southeast 75th Street corridor.

“We’ve talked about it a lot, we put money aside to do something and now I think it’s time to do something,” Newcastle City Councilman Rich Crispo said.

The council voted 5-1 in favor of the speed humps, despite Public Works Director Jeff Brauns’ earlier presentation that suggested alternative measures. Councilwoman Carol Simpson was the lone dissenter, while Deputy Mayor John Drescher was not in attendance.

Data collected did not support the installation of speed humps, Brauns said.

While studies show that the traffic volume has increased on the corridor that includes 125th Place Southeast, Southeast 75th Street, 127th Place Southeast and Southeast 73rd Place, Brauns said speed data shows that the majority of vehicles are going the speed limit.

“The data doesn’t show that there’s a significant problem,” he told the council.

The posted speed limit on the street is 25 mph. At various points across the corridor, the city recorded 85th percentile speeds of 23, 24, 25 and 26 mph in 2015, Brauns said.

The 85th percentile speed is the speed at or below which 85 percent of all vehicles are observed to travel under free flowing conditions.

Brauns suggested installation of wide-edge striping, neighborhood traffic circles and initiation of a speed-watch program as alternative solutions.

He added that the city’s practice has been to look at speed humps when the 85th percentile speed is about 5 mph above the posted speed limit.

The city has $75,000 allotted for traffic-calming measures. Speed humps cost about $10,000 each, Brauns said. The exact number of speed humps to be installed on the corridor is currently unknown.

Traffic volume on the corridor has increased, though, and that could continue with new development planned in the area.

Residents said they believe drivers are attracted to the corridor because it doesn’t have the traffic-calming measures that neighboring streets do.

“For me, it’s more about diversion,” City Councilwoman Lisa Jensen said of the speed humps.

Slowed speeds is certainly a benefit, Jensen added, but she said she hopes the speed humps also discourage those who have used the corridor as a “faster” way to get out of the neighborhood.

Simpson, the only council member to vote against the motion, earlier angered neighbors when she said, “I’m getting tired of driving over speed humps. I’m getting tired of paying for bills for my car repair,” at the town hall meeting in June.

At the July 21 council meeting, Simpson said speed humps are a “low-quality solution to the problem.” Really, what that street needs is full sidewalks from Donegal Park to 129th Avenue Southeast, she said.

Simpson also suggested to neighbors that they would likely regret their call for speed humps after frequently using them.

Neighbors in attendance clapped in approval once the 5-1 vote for speed humps was completed.

Haochen Xu was just 4 years old.

He loved to read, had no trouble making friends and possessed a penchant for learning.

Haochen died June 27 at Harborview Medical Center, the day after a driver struck him as he and his mother tried to cross Newport Way Northwest in Issaquah.

Investigators say the driver was not speeding, but that is little consolation for a community that says the posted 40 mph speed limit along the road is way too high.

Changes are likely coming to the road, with Issaquah Mayor Fred Butler recommending a speed limit decrease. But this is after the worst case scenario became reality.

It took the death of a 4-year-old boy for real change to happen.

For years, neighbors on Newcastle’s Southeast 75th Street corridor worried a similar scenario would play out on their roads.

They’ve witnessed too many close calls, too many near accidents and too many speeding vehicles to feel safe living outside their homes.

The neighborhood can breathe a sigh of relief now, after the Newcastle City Council moved staff to initiate the long-awaited installation of speed humps on the corridor.

The vote took some courage, especially after a staff presentation that outlined the reasons the corridor did not require speed humps.

Studies showed speeds on the street are not out of control. As a result, staff suggested other measures, such as wide-edge striping and initiation of a neighborhood speed watch program.

But those studies, which only measure speed over a specific time period, can’t replace the experience of living on the street daily and witnessing something completely different.

It would have been easy for the council to take the numbers outlined in the study and send the neighbors packing without their desired speed humps. However, five of the six voting council members that night rightly looked past the data and into the worried faces of their constituents.

What happened in Issaquah must not happen in Newcastle, and neighbors believe the speed humps will save lives.

The council should be applauded for listening to their residents’ concerns, even when the data showed something different.

At the same time, the neighbors of the Southeast 75th Street corridor deserve an equal amount of praise for their unceasing fight in this battle. Their street will be safer, because they demanded it of their elected officials.

It was a true case of the numbers saying one thing, and the heart saying another.

In the end, as Councilman John Dulcich said, voting for the speed humps was “the right thing to do.”

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Deputy Mayor John Drescher (right) answers an audience question, as City Councilman Rich Crispo listens beside him.

During the meeting’s second hour, the Newcastle City Council fielded audience questions, with a sizable group of neighbors from in and around Southeast 75th Street using the time to express concerns about speeding on the street.

“People are more using it more than ever before, because they realize that every other street now has speed humps,” one resident said.

Neighbors from the street came to last year’s town hall meeting and at least one Newcastle City Council meeting in 2014 to ask the city for traffic-calming measures on the street.

In the past, residents said they have trepidations about letting their children play in yards, and are concerned about the effect the speeds have on a nearby bus stop as students wait for and exit the vehicle.

Residents on the street want to see speed bumps installed.

It’s not that simple, though, Newcastle City Manager Rob Wyman responded. A traffic analysis done on the street hasn’t triggered what the city normally would require to install speed humps. That traffic analysis isn’t the only consideration, though, he added.

“At the end of the day, this is what then becomes a policy decision by myself and my City Council,” Wyman said.

The issue with speed bumps is placement, Wyman said. Residents often complain when they are put directly in front of their houses, he said.

To that, a chorus of Southeast 75th Street residents yelled “Put it in front of my house.”

Mayor Steve Buri assured residents that the City Council would take a closer look at traffic-calming measures for the street at an upcoming council meeting.

Before they do, though, one resident asked that any council member who uses the street as a thoroughfare to reach downtown Newcastle abstain from voting on anything dealing with traffic calming on Southeast 75th Street.

Councilwoman Carol Simpson, an Olympus resident, admitted she uses the road to avoid speed humps in her neighborhood and get to places such as the Newcastle Library.

“I’m getting tired of driving over speed humps. I’m getting tired of paying for bills for my car repair,” Simpson said, eliciting jeers from the crowd.

“That’s not an excuse,” a resident responded, noting that if you drive slowly, speed bumps shouldn’t affect your car. Simpson responded that some of the city’s speed bumps aren’t constructed to code.

Simpson added that she doesn’t believe speed humps are the solution to traffic issues. Renton, for example, puts an emphasis on ticketing speeding drivers, instead, she said.

One of the other hot topics was Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside project. Residents asked for council support in fighting the proposal to build about 18 miles of high-capacity electric transmission lines from Renton to Redmond.

“I am going to be — and the best word I can use is — a victim, of PSE’s Energize Eastside,” one resident said.

The mayor and other council members were firm in voicing their opposition for the project.

“I don’t mind saying for me personally, I don’t see the benefits to Newcastle,” Buri said.

“I’m not convinced that it’s needed,” Deputy Mayor John Drescher added. “I’m very convinced that it will detract from the neighborhood.”

About 100 residents filled The Golf Club at Newcastle’s St. Andrews Ballroom for the two-hour event.

In the first hour, city departments staffed booths and visual displays offering information and education about community resources. The open-house-style approach allowed residents to speak directly with both staff and council members in a more informal arena.