In an effort to slow the speed of traffic in the Kutzky Park Neighborhood, leaders are advocating to return streets to two-way traffic. If agreeable to residents, the City has provided money to implement a trial of two-way traffic on 1st Street SW.

• Benefits of two-way traffic on residential streets
• Why 1st Street SW?
• Ask questions of your neighorhood leaders and Rochester's Traffic Engineer

Posted by Stephanie at 7:27 PM | Link

 
Last summer during three neighborhood workshops, you told leaders of Imagine Kutzky that traffic was one of your biggest concerns and aggrivations about living in Kutzky Park.

After looking at data collected from you at neighborhood workshops, the neighborhood survey sent out to you last fall, and the city Public Works department, the Imagine Kutzky Vision Plan for Streets was developed to reduce cut-through traffic and create safe, attractive street systems. Reducing speed is a primary factor in creating safe neighborhood streets.

To achieve slower speeds and reduced cut-through traffic, one of the primary recommendations coming out of the Imagine Kutzky project is to return Kutzky Park streets back into true neighborhood residential streets by changing traffic back to two-way.

Imagine Kutzky project planners presented the recommendation to you at a neighborhood-wide meeting in January. In general, you responded favorably to the idea of using two-way traffic as a way to slow speeds on the streets. But some of you were skeptical and wanted more information. Some of you had concerns that traffic numbers would increase, with two-way traffic making it even easier to cut-through in any direction.

We have been working to answer these questions. One proposal that has come from the Public Works department has been to do a trial of two-way traffic on one street in the neighborhood. That would allow traffic engineers from the city a chance to collect before and after data that can be shared with you before implementing two-way traffic through the entire neigborhood.

We have focused on 1st Street SW for this trial for a number of reasons. The traffic volume, parking rules, traffic-calming elements already in place, and width of the street make for a more accurate study of what the effects of two-way traffic would have on the rest of the neighborhood as our streets redevelop.

A meeting is planned for the residents of 1st Street SW to discuss the possibility of a two-way traffic trial on that street, answer questions, and explain the reasons for our recommendations in more detail.

Sometime in the 1960's, Kutzky Park streets (like many city neighborhoods in the country) were changed from two-way to one-way streets to accommodate traffic heading from downtown to outwardly spreading suburban neighborhoods. Quickly funneling traffic through areas like Kutzky Park compounded growing problems for city neighborhoods.

Currently, Kutzky Park is the only neighborhood in the city of Rochester that has one-way streets. And consequently, the Public Works Traffic Engineer receives more traffic complaints from Kutzky Park residents that any other neighborhood.

As part of a good neighborhood revitalization plan, we must make our streets to safe and attractive for people coming into Kutzky Park, not just travelling through it. In order to do this we must reduce speed.

As stated by Andy Masterpole, planner for Imagine Kutzky, "People drive as fast as they feel comfortable. Wide, unobstructed streets make it comfortable to drive fast, so we need to do things to make drivers feel less comfortable driving fast. Introducing oncoming traffic is an effective way to make it less comfortable to speed in the neighborhood."



Whether using speed bumps or narrowing streets, there aren't any successful traffic calming measures appropriate for residential streets when used with one-way traffic.

By implementing two-way traffic, along with other measures such as changing the location of stop signs to break up the straight, cut-through pattern of traffic-flow, and implementing elements such as traffic cirlces and narrowing devices (pictured below), we can indeed meet the goal of creating safe and attractive neighborhood streets.

Please review the Imagine Kutzky plan for neighborhood streets. Contact us with questions, comments and concerns. As we move forward with neighborhood improvement plans, we will need your support in letting the city know Kutzky Park residents are ready to reclaim their streets as true neighborhood streets once more.

Posted by Stephanie at 5:15 PM | Link

 
On Tuesday, April 12, the members of the Kutzky Park Neighborhood elected new officers to the Executive Committee of the Kutzky Park Neighborhood Association.

Officers are:

President - Dave Edmonson

Vice President - Andy Masterpole

Secretary - Jennifer Mulvihill

Treasurer - Kelly Threinen

Chairperson - Glenn Faith

Please contact us through the website if you wish to speak with any of your officers. Thank you!

Posted by Stephanie at 11:08 AM | Link

 
On Wednesday evening, April 13, Imagine Kutzky staff, Stephanie Kilen and Andy Masterpole, presented the new Vision Plan for Kutzky Park to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The Commissioners unanimously voted to initiate an amendment to the City's land use plan that would include the goals, objectives and recommendations stemming from the neighborhoood-wide planning process that occured last summer.

Your hard work during those Imagine Kutzky visioning workshops last summer is paying off! Recognizing the need for a good plan to revitalize the Kutzky Park neighborhood, members of the Planning and Zoning Commission directed Planners from the Planning and Zoning Department to begin reviewing the Imagine Kutzky Vision Plan for the purpose of including it in Rochester's long term land-use plan.

While land use plans are very general and will not change the zoning of the neighborhood, it is an important first step in recognizing the need for serious change in the way the neighborhood is perceived. It is important that the City recognize that Kutzky Park is not slated for deterioration and eventual razing.

If approved, the new land use plan will also be the beginning of addressing the need to reverse the use of single family homes for multi-unit rentals, and encourage the replacement of substandard housing with new, well-designed housing that contributes to the strength and character of the neighborhood.

New President Elect of the Kutzky Park Neighborhood Association, Dave Edmonson, spoke on behalf of the Imagine Kutzky plans at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. He explained the frustration of living in a neighborhood where over-priced rental property in bad condition actually depresses the value of single-family homes in good condition. He explained that a land-use plan amendment, and eventually zoning changes, based on the Imagine Kutzky Vision Plan, would make it possible for people to privately invest in new, high quality housing that would revitalize the neighborhood, rid the neighborhood of problems that come with deteriorating rental property such as crime and lagging property values, and also build a tax-base for the city and provide a good compliment to downtown revilization as well.

Over the next two months, the Imagine Kutzky project will continue to work on behalf of the Kutzky Park Neighborhood, in conjunction with the KPNA, to ensure the approval of a new land-use plan for Kutzky Park.

As always please contact us with any questions, ideas or concerns you may have.

Posted by Stephanie at 10:32 AM | Link

 

Comments on the State of the Kutzky Park Neighborhood Association
from Glenn Faith

General Meeting, Tuesday, April 12, Lourdes Auditorium, 7:00 PM

Since the December meeting I have been serving as President of our Association, filling a vacancy left last autumn. Since then we have successfully been occupied with City Council actions on the new Synagogue and have collectively poured countless hours into the troubles of First Street Southwest, culminating with enforcement of the Housing Code on an index property, thanks to intensely focused block captains. We planted sixty street trees just before freeze-up, thanks to the help of a “chain gang” of conscripts and their forester overseers. The Park cleanup went well once again. We are also thankful for the highly creative work done by the Imagine Kutzky project and look forward to its implementation.

So, we can honorably bask in these accomplishments. However, there is much more to be done. Looking back over the past year I believe we have lost some ground as an Association. Our (business) meetings had slipped in frequency; our treasury is stuck at about $400. We joined forces with the RNeighbors paper which ceased publishing and is struggling to find a new format. We currently have only three serving officers out of five with one imminent departure.

I have reviewed the (rediscovered) By-Laws of the Association with great interest. In fact, Articles of Incorporation were drawn up and signed in 1996, but the final act was never done. The time is now, and I have asked that those By-Laws be posted on the web site for your study. I will seek concurrence of the Membership to proceed with incorporation at the April general meeting.

The By-Laws call for five officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Chairperson of the Executive Committee. We have not been using the latter position; I believe that we should fill it. Please examine carefully the entire By-Laws and pay careful attention to Article XIII which defines the Executive Committee and the duties of the officers, and the election process.

We have already passed the deadline for nominations, and therefore will need to nominate from the floor. We are looking for officers who will take reasonable public positions, who are comfortable moving amongst the political and business community, who respect civic processes, and who wish to be part of the revival of Kutzky Park. Please consider your candidacy.

In 1997 there was a (curious) amendment that established the “Board,” adding members to the (Executive) Committee without clearly defining duties. In that amendment a statement was made that all decisions of the Board would be final, leaving the Membership without ratifying authority. We need to discuss this. It is my belief that such a construction may not be appropriate for a neighborhood organization and that it can lead to accusations of “high-jacking” (I have actually heard this).

Some of us have felt the need to attract capital to our neighborhood to invest in renewal, even rebuilding, of our worst properties. The non-profit sector is of help in this regard, but in addition we need to enter the market economy by establishing a financial entity to attract that capital to facilitate the revival. Its charter should adhere to the goals of the Association.

Agenda Minutes as available
Discussion re: incorporating Neighborhood Watch report
Discussion re: attracting capital
Police report
Status of Imagine Kutzky (and the Survey)
Other reports brought forth
Nomination and election of officers, 2005-‘06 /sig./ Glenn C. Faith, President

Bylaws (pdf)
Articles of Incorporation (pdf)

Posted by Stephanie at 9:16 AM | Link