Closing Street near firehouse remains under consideration
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff Writer
With the April 3 City Council meeting postponed due to lack of a quorum and the April 16 meeting now being held to essentially take care of bills and seating the new council, questions surrounding Washington Street – and changes to traffic in that area – won’t be looked at until May.
Mayor Bob Miller said Tuesday night that all options are still on the table for Washington Street, which city officials first wanted to close to through traffic – and then got asked to look at more options when the Plan Commission and the City Council both raised concerns about changing traffic patterns in the city.
“It’s still being looked at, and no decision’s been made one way or the other,” said Miller, who added that all three plans are still on the table.
Those plans include the original idea of closing the street, the idea of leaving the street as is – and then a hybrid of the two plans.
At the Plan Commission meeting on March 12, City of Burlington Fire Chief Dick Lodle presented a number of videos showing drivers disregarding flashing lights on fire trucks trying to get in and out of the station on Washington Street.
However, that wasn’t enough to convince the commission that the street had to be closed. After arguing for close to an hour at that meeting, the subject was tabled for further study – study that Miller says will likely come in the form of a traffic study.
However, nothing has been decided for certain.
“That’s what it’s going to take, having someone sit there and count cars,” Miller explained. “That’s an expense right now I’m not sure I’m ready to delve into.”
He also said there is time to make the right choice, since the first time it can come before the council is May 7.
“It’s not a real hot-ticket item we need to get it done right away,” Miller said. “We just need to get it done right.”
Lodle also voiced his opinion.
“We obviously prefer the first option, closing the street,” he said. “But it’s not going to come before the Plan Commission in April.”
As for when it might happen, he added, “Stay tuned, I guess.”
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