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Show jUign petition Nobody wants campus traffic Penrose neighbors say closure not solution j Wolcott Virginia University li j 13th East E 1 a University people, residents of the Federal Heights area and members of the Salt Lake City Commission will all have to work together in order to solve the traffic problem, said two opponents of the Penrose Drive closing issue Monday. Mrs. Frances Farley, 1418 Federal Wy., and Mrs. Beverly Porter, who are spearheading a move to block the closure of the street, agreed closing Penrose Drive is not the way to solve the problem. One rationale we heard, said Mrs. Farley, is the only way to get anything done through local government. "We don't believe that. We think the city should have taken advance action to solve the University traffic problem," she added. "The people who are backing the closure of Penrose Drive have told us to be patient and they'll take care of us in another six months to a year," said Mrs. Porter. The group opposing the city commission action presented a petition during a public hearing Thursday in commission chambers with 51 signatures of Federal Heights residents who oppose the closure. The petition said, "If Penrose Drive is closed, that traffic will be shifted to Federal Way, First South Street, University Street, Wolcott Avenue and Virginia Street. These streets are already jammed with University traffic and to shift additional traffic on them will make the traffic problem intolerable." in-tolerable." "That's going to be an additional 5,000 cars on our streets," said Mrs. Farley. "Someone on the commission suggested we change our petition to have Federal Way closed as well. But I told him we couldn't do that; that it wouldn't solve the problem." The commission will vote on Thursday to decide the fate of Penrose Drive. Op- This is the last week that applications will be available for those interested in participating winter quarter in the General Education "Community Service for Credit" program. The applications are available at the General Ed office Park Bldg., 304. This program will offer students the means to break out of the theoretical and into a practical learning experience. ex-perience. - ponents plan to go down to the city commissioners in groups of five or six Tuesday to register their complaints with them privately, said Mrs. Porter. "The commissioners almost ignored our petition when we presented it," Mrs. Farley said. Only 75 Federal Heights residents signed the petition to have Penrose Drive closed. However, Mrs. Farley said, some thought our petition wasn't large enough or showed enough interest of others in the area. "We know the problem is intolerable," she said. "But we've got to combine forces and work together. To represent the issue as all of Federal Heights against the University is ridiculous. There are many residents in the area who oppose having the street closed." Mrs. Porter, who is a member of the Federal Heights Improvement Association which is a group calling for closure, said she was never notified of the initial action and doesn't think it represents the wishes of the Federal Heights residents. "By the reasoning used in this issue, if traffic is a nuisance all streets should be closed off, not just one," she said. "A few people will be relieved of the burden and responsibility, but it will be thrown to the rest of the area. And it still won't solve the problem of a need for an alternate route for University traffic," said Mrs. Farley. University Traffic Director Emmett Quinn suggested an alternative route to the avenues area be constructed as an extension ex-tension to 11th Avenue, which would run from the North Bench area, circle behind the University Medical Center and connect -with Wasatch Drive at Sunnyside Avenue. He said the road would be four lanes wide and eventually be part of a Salt Lake City-Ogclen City-Ogclen belt route after construction of a bridge across the City Creek Canyon. At least one avenue resident has already opposed that proposal. Calvin W. Rawlings, 756-1 1th Ave., in a letter to the Salt Lake City commission last week said the route would double traffic on 11th Avenue, create a serious traffic problem on the lower avenues because commuters to the city from Oak Hills, Wasatch and Olympus Hills would use the route and devalue the avenues residential area. Cliie shows proposed traffic flow. Broken line is current Penrose Drive. |