New traffic patterns in YPA neighborhood

With the opening of Creekside School, there will be some changes in traffic on Yankee and Fifth Streets and Yellowstone Place. I talked to Cheryl Johnson, Public Works Director, today, so I thought I'd pass along the information.

Plans at present are that there will be a stop sign on Yellowstone Place at Fifth Street, and a stop sign on Yankee at Fifth Street, as well as one on Washington Street at Fifth. Fifth, although it's only a couple of blocks long hereabouts, will be regarded as a "through street" so all streets entering it will have stop signs.

Also, the plan is to prohibit parking  on Fifth between Yankee Street and the school. This should be beneficial to us and should also discourage parents from coming up Fifth to drop off their children. The school is determined to get parents to use the main, east entrance to drop off their kids. The Fifth Street entrance is to be for faculty and school buses only.

Meanwhile, the City is going to build some handicapped entrances to sidewalks on Yellowstone and at the corner of Yankee and Fifth behind the Rec Center. The City is also going to be tearing up some of the landscaping our neighbor Dorothy Gugel has done along Fifth Street, to extend the sidewalk on the west side of Fifth toward the apartment complex there, also installing a railing over the drainage ditch. This will be done at no cost to the landowners. Next year, the plan is to extend this sidewalk to Washington Street, assessing property owners. But this year kids walking to school will have to walk on the sidewalk behind the Rec Center and cross Fifth to get to the west side and then cross Yellowstone to get to the school. This is not exactly ideal and it means Dorothy will be losing some of her plantings, though the City says they will help transplant some things.

Work on the sidewalk is going to begin on Monday (8/1/11).

Lorraine Collins

President