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Show FIFTY CENTS Change city plans to solve transportation nightmare Melinda Williams Staff Writer KAYSVILLE Remember the good old days, when you were a kid and could walk to the comer market for a candy bar or a comic book? One expert believes if were ever going to solve traffic problems along the Wasatch Front, planners are going to have to return to those days when people could easily walk or bicycle to the neighborhood store or school and when a bus stop was only yards away. Robert Liberty, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Oregon, told about 200 people todays motorized society, but ideas which in many ways harkened back to a quieter time when neighbors would visit at that comer grocery he researched the Wasatch Front well before coming to Utah and had examples of good and bad planning in the area. He also spoke of the early at the Transportation changing our ideas about land use is the only way to get people out of their cars. Liberty, who fought for years to stop the construction of a major and highway system in Oregon won presented radical ideas for efforts to plan a conveniently a city in designed city which getting around was easy because of the wide streets designed in a grid pattern. He said those early settlers had a vision for the future of Salt Lake City. He showed a table published in 1978 comparing travel by vehicle, mass transit systems and walkingbiking in the -- Robert Liberty United States, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, which showed Americans by store. Today, Liberty said, the far use their cars the most. Even only interaction you have with your back then, Americans used their neighbors is at the intersection ... cars for 82.3 percent of trips made. And you may not even know them West Germans, 47.6 percent, and the Dutch, 45.2 percent. Canadian if you have a garage door opener. the closet in auto usage, using came earlier Liberty spoke Thursday to members of the Utah League of cars 74 percent of the time. Liberty believes the reason City and Towns and apologized for recycling some of his address. But Europeans use public transportation and walk so much is because of the way cities are planned. The pattern of commuting in America came about because weve built islands of residential areas with shops and schools at a distance. Weve Consumers buying more furniture, food June 1995 taxable retail sales and business purchases grew 13.8 percent to more than $1.44 billion compared to a year earlier, the State Tax Commission has reported. Retail trade sales of $886 million were up 16.5 percent from June 1994. Taxable business investment purchases and utility sales increased slightly less than 5 percent. Leading the major sectors, however, were taxable services, which jumped 24 percent in June compared to a year earlier. Based on monthly returns filed by Utahs largest companies, second-quart1995 taxable sales 12.7 percent, have to grown appear er Q. pioneer settlers and their Design a city so it doesnt take a pint of gas to get a pint of milk. Tomorrow Conference at Davis High School Thursday evening, O up from first quarters 9 percent growth rate. During the first six months of 1995, taxable sales may approach an 11 percent growth rate, very close to 1993 and 1994 yearly gains, Tax Commission Chief Economist Douglas A. MacDonald said. He noted that Junes $1.44 billion in sales, on a seasonally adjusted basis, rose 1.5 percent from April, marking the fifth monthly increase since November of 1994s peak. Again, at play in the data is a significant increase in the member substituted mobility for he To make his accessibility. point showed an aerial view of an unnamed Wasatch Front city. To get from the residential island to the shopping center, youd have to cross the arterial road, run through a field, pass through another residential area and probably wind up climbing a chain link fence with barbed wire on top to get to the shopping centers parking lot. The solution, he said, is to Design a city so it doesnt take a pint of gas to get a pint of milk. Liberty, who prefers streets designed in a grid formation, called the current trend of building the dead worm system of road design. see CONSUMERS pg. A3 He explained by see CITY pg. A2 ROAD ii LOS ED 3roadcl 4 ' I V:r Oh no you dont! Unwary motorists had to backtrack Monday morning when they came upon the road closed signs at the intersection of 500 S. and Main Street in Bountiful. The intersection was closed Saturday and will remain closed for four weeks as construction crews install a cement street and turn signals on the traffic light. Roads will be open to local traffic only as local businesses will remain open during the construction. Return to yesteryear may help gridlock problems Melinda Williams staff writer Following Robert Liberty's address at the Transportation Tomorrow Conference, two panel discussions were held explaining where the Wasatch Front is going in terms of transportation, the road blocks to getting there and offering some solutions to those roadblocks. But at least one of the panelists d felt the others were in their vision of transportation in the future. Julie Eldridge, the alternative transportation coordinator for Salt short-sighte- Lake City, admonished other conference speakers for so quickly losing sight of the vision Liberty brought the conference. She said 50 years ago walking and biking were not thought of as alternatives, they were the way people got around. Over the years weve changed the whole definition of cars, of moving bodies. Eldridge said Salt Lake Ciy employees have made great strides reduction targets set for the next three years. She told participants Its a scary direction were headed in. So often theres no other choice (than driving. Again referring to Libertys in using provided. Leading off the speakers was alternate forms of transportation. The city provides bus passes, bike racks, car pool and matching, telecommuting alternate work hours for employees. She said the city has already met and exceeded transportation Mandated celebration of child not in every school Im a taxpayer. Ill drop off my kid in Kindergarten and pick him up after graduation. Dr. Gary M. Lloyd, director of the Utah Center for Families in Education, says that is the attitude of some Utah parents. He added that the attitude is sometimes child is a part of the conference. A typical SEP meeting begins with the teacher telling the parent about the many accomplishments of the child. Stantus explained the information given by the teacher is about real achievements by the improvement, together the teacher, parent and child chose specific goals in areas that still need attention. Each leaves the conference with a clear understanding of their part in reaching the goals set at the SEP Although it does take more time, teachers would not be without SEPs. Stantus said the SEPs allow teachers to better understand a child and his family. It challenges teachers to meet the needs of all students, not teach to the middle. reinforced by teachers who refuse to allow parents to participate. We have some teachers who give parents the message, You just get the kids ready for school. Well take it from there. Lloyd wants to see that changed, and the tools are already in place. His goal is to see that every school uses them. How do you get parents to become partners in their childs education? A plan experience with are minimal now, Stantus said. Lloyd applauds what is happening at Bountiful Elementary, but laments the fact that few schools are using SEPs. I think the Legislature should withhold Centennial school funds from teacher and his parent schools that are not using SEPs, he said. Strong parental support can improve students together in a partnership for success. The SEP has been mandated by the Legislature academic achievement and the State Board of Education to be in every Utah school. But Lloyd said of the hundreds of by up to 35 percent, said Lloyd. He believes teachers HEAD START TOWARD SUCCESS-Stude- nt Education Plans, SEPs, are being used at Burton Elementary in Kaysvilie with great success. Chad Hogan's mother Sherie said "It has helped Chad have more confidence. I like it, we know what they need to be working on." Chad's teacher Lynda Bizzell agrees with the need for the program. "Teaching is a triangle, child, parent and teacher.' qualification for Centennial schools, about 60 to 70 percent child, not you look cute kinds of money, said Lloyd. What is an SEP? Bountiful improved behavior or scholastic accomplishments are the norm. Research shows when you tell people what they are doing well they do more of that, Stantus said. After the child has been told of arent really doing it. They just say they are to get the Elementary Principal Ellen Stantus calls it a celebration of the child. It is an extension of the conference familiar parent-teachwith one main difference. The er er Its ago at Bountiful Elementary is the answer said Lloyd. The Student Education Plan (SEP) brings a child, his SEP is part of the parent-teach- conferences were bad so they had decided not to attend. The SEPs focus on accomplishments of the child changes a parents attitude. a great celebration of learning and how well a child is doing. No one leaves feeling theyve been put down, said Stantus. Teachers stop and look at a child in a different light. They get a lot better at searching for good instead of bad. That has paid off with fewer children being sent to the principals office. Our behavior problems implemented eight years elementary schools in Utah only about 100 to 110 are using it Even though the of comments. Celebrations V meeting. The major difference is student ownership of their own learning. They are no longer k bystander. Parents are active participants in helping a child reach the goals, Stantus said. The SEPs are held three times each year with each student. WQ Are SEPs successful? Stantus said since the program was implemented in the school eight years ago they have seen dramatic changes. Meetings are attended by 99 to 100 percent of parents. Weve seen parents who have never been in the school before. Their past should encourage their schools to implement the SEP plan. Teachers sometimes have the attitude I am the professional. That is a very unfair attitude and it needs to change drastically. Teachers should view parents as partners, not enemies, he said. He encourages all parents to contact their child's school and ask for an SEP meeting. They should be available in every elementary school. address, Eldrridge said should coordinate municipalities bike trails and citizens should insist neighborhood shopping be Wilf Sommerkorn, director of Davis County Community and Economic Development, who told participants, My job is to scare you. He said Davis County has long experienced a growth boom, unlike nearby counties who experienced a drop in growth in the Between 2020 and 2030 Davis County will be built out with a population of 378,000. Tom Wame, director of the Utah mid-1980- s. Department of Transportation, warned that even though the department has many projects already scheduled and more to come, federal funding is coming to an end. The realities of funding transportation were also discussed later by Lynne Koga, the director of the Governors Office of Planning and Budget, who told participants the bad news that UDOT already has over $2.5 million in unfunded needs. She also said only a small portion of the states budget is dedicated to roads, including the 19 see TRAFFIC pg. A2 Police car strikes, kills pedestrian CLEARFIELD Investigation is continuing into a fatal autopedestrian accident here in which a police officer struck and killed an Texas man Saturday evening. Anthony Werden, 19, Hurst, Tex., was walking in the middle of State Street at 580 South, about 8:53 p.m. when he was struck by a car driven by a Clearfield officer on his way to investigate a gang fight The officer swerved to avoid hitting the Werden, but was unable to avoid hitting the man, according to Utah Highway Patrol Troopers investigating the accident Werden died at the scene. The officer was taken to Davis Hospital and Medical Center, where he was treated for cuts. |