Bike-lane, buyer's remorse could be setting in

Hunter McFerrin/Herald-Leader A vehicle slows down to pass through one of the bike lane pilot project's "Pinch Points" on Jefferson Street on Wednesday morning.
Hunter McFerrin/Herald-Leader A vehicle slows down to pass through one of the bike lane pilot project's "Pinch Points" on Jefferson Street on Wednesday morning.

Concerns about the state of the bike lane pilot project were raised by a few members of the city board during their meeting on Tuesday night.

The sentiments come just over a month after the board voted 6-1 in favor of the project, and were prompted by a brief address given by Cathi Coleman at the beginning of the meeting. Cathi is a Siloam Springs resident and wife of Director Bob Coleman, and said that her husband hadn't read her comments prior to the meeting.

Cathi began by expressing support for cyclists and increasing safety on city streets. However, she also said she thinks that the number of signs in place is excessive and that the aesthetic quality of the greenway is unpleasant.

"I'm very unhappy with the view I now see looking straight out our front door, dining room windows, upstairs bedroom windows and upstairs office windows," Cathi said. "And, seeing 72 feet of black and white bumpers and orange and white striped cones, seven signs within 125 feet of our front door, one of which says to yield to oncoming traffic, (that's) a perfect place for southbound cars to pull in our semi-circle driveway and let the northbound cars stay on the road.

"And, (there are) four, approximately two-by-four-foot silver metal troughs, also called stock tanks. You, the board majority voted for this, so it is what it is. ... I simply have one request to ask of you, if, and/or when you decide to have something planted in these troughs or stock tanks, I implore you, please plant some kind of evergreen or something that will have some type of nice year-round color."

Two members of the board who addressed her comments did so at the end of the meeting and were Directors Brad Burns and Amy Smith. Both voted in favor of the project and appeared to at least partially agree with Cathi's comments.

Burns said he still fully supports the project and that he took a ride on the path on his bike recently and that he enjoys having the green painted bike path on the street. He agreed with Cathi regarding the cosmetic aspects of it, however, and said that if the concept still holds after a year, that making the area more visually appealing should be a priority.

Smith said she agreed with Burns to an extent and that she also likes the green path on the street. Aside from that, she called in to question issues relating to the practicality, safety and long-term maintenance of the bike lanes.

"I very much like the green marking, and I very much like the sign that says if there is a bike right there at the Mount Olive stoplight, don't go right on red, very much like that," Smith said. "I drove the rest of it and I thought the lineup of signs in front of the Coleman's home was ridiculous because I couldn't read them all. There's seven of them, they're all the same shape (and) same color and if they're saying the same thing, that's certainly overkill. I don't like those constricted areas, I very much like the concept of them, but driving or walking in that area doesn't feel safe to me. I'm wondering if the speed bumps (or) speed tables, whatever they may be properly called and the green markings on the road may be sufficient at this time, and I don't see anybody maintaining watering troughs of vegetation."

Director Carol Smiley echoed a similar perspective, and the last to address the topic was Director Bob Coleman, who was the only member of the board to have voted against it and suggested that some of the responsibility for the problem lies with those who voted for it.

"I would remind my fellow board members that they had the option of voting no," Bob Coleman said. "There was one guy that did on the bike path and all I've received since then were complaints about it. ... I think it probably was the poorest planned project that I've seen in my six years on the board."

Another notable aspect of Tuesday's meeting was a discussion surrounding an ordinance that proposes amending sections of the city's zoning code for developments in the city's historic overlay district, or H-1 zone. In short, the ordinance was proposed by the city as a long-term solution for preventing further disputes relating to the rezoning of residential areas within the historic overlay district to allow for multi-family developments.

The reasons for the conflict are that first, the historic overlay's provisions allow for larger housing densities and setbacks than many of the base zones (R-2, R-3, etc.) within them. Second, the overlay's provisions are considered to take precedence over the base zone's provisions. The ordinance suggests that such conflict could be prevented by reducing housing densities and certain setback requirements outlined within the overlay zone, specifically in areas of the city that are zoned as R-2, R-3 or R-4.

The complexity of the proposed changes, as well as the fact that three new board members will be taking office in January led Burns to make a motion to table the ordinance until the first meeting of January. This motion didn't receive a second and failed. Shortly thereafter, the decision to place it on its first reading was made in a vote of 6-1; with Burns being the dissenting vote. A detailed version of the report can be found on the city's website under the Nov. 20 city board agenda.

As for other business, the board took the following actions.

• Unanimously approved the reappointment of Tim McCord to the Arkansas Public Education Facilities Board for John Brown University.

• Unanimously approved a destruction affidavit that is needed to dispose of about 130 boxes of outdated city documents and records.

• Unanimous approval of a recommendation from city staff to purchase asphalt materials needed for the Kenwood Street widening project, in the amount of $103,499.

• Unanimously approved a resolution to adopt the city's 2019 budget. Multiple budget workshops have taken place between city staff and the board in recent months and the city is expected to be at a deficit for the year, with expenses expected to exceed $5.5 million and roughly $2.2 million in revenues, a city staff report states.

• Unanimously approved a resolution to adopt an updated version of the city's compensation plan for its employees.

• Unanimously approved a resolution to authorize sole-sourcing (waiving requirements for competitive bidding) for service contracts between the city and the following entities: The Boys and Girls Club of Western Benton County, the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Siloam Springs, American Legion Post 29 and the Siloam Springs Museum Society.

• Unanimously approved a resolution to set a hearing date for Jan. 2 to discuss a petition filed by Kenneth and Doris Childers, who wish to close "two unimproved streets dedicated in the Gunter Addition of 1902," a city staff report states.

General News on 11/25/2018