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No consensus on closing Neptune Street for a test

Although about two-thirds of the residents back it, many in and out of the neighborhood do not.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published May 26, 2006

Proponents want the city to close Neptune Street at West Shore Boulevard for 60 to 90 days to let transportation officials track traffic patterns.

They circulated a petition that indicated about two-thirds of homeowners supported it.

However, a number of other residents strongly oppose the traffic study, as do homeowners in adjacent neighborhoods, such as Beach Park and Sunset Park. All are concerned the closure would funnel traffic onto their streets.

More than 100 supporters and opponents gathered to discuss the issue Monday evening at Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library.

William Porth, the city's traffic analysis supervisor, noted that some of the petition signers later asked that their names be removed.

He also told the audience that the petitioners should work toward building a greater consensus inside the neighborhood.

But even that might not help, Porth said, because outside opposition has been so strong and vocal.

"Within a week's period we received over 40 phone calls and countless e-mails and faxes" opposing the closure, Porth told attendees, who filled a meeting room at the library. People ran out of room to sit, so about 25 stood or sat along the walls.

The issue arose in March when stormwater pipe repairs briefly closed the intersection, and some Culbreath Bayou residents said they noticed lowered traffic volumes on their streets.

Opposing views prompted some rancor early in Monday's meeting, with a few outbursts of shouting, finger-pointing and insults, though tempers calmed in the meeting's later half.

John Shepard of Roxmere Road started the petition asking for the 60- to 90-day closure.

Monday, James Wessman, 61, of Watrous Avenue accused Shepard of "deception" and said the closure "misrepresented" how it could affect neighbors.

Shepard, 69, jumped from his chair and shouted at Wessman: "Don't go there, son, don't go there."

Culbreath Bayou Homeowners Association president Sarah Stichter said the board would not take any official position on whether to consider the test closure.

Porth told attendees that while the original request was to do a test closure for 30 to 60 days, the city could do it for as short as two weeks and still get a pretty good picture of how that affects traffic: "Generally these patterns don't vary much over a week."

However, he said, the transportation department's previous statistics have not indicated particularly serious speeding or cut-through traffic problems through the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, proponents said they'll get back to Porth after working to arrive at a consensus of support for the street closure.

Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 226-3431.

[Last modified May 25, 2006, 15:47:03]