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Show weN UT URS PUB ITIBY TIES BYPASS OPTIONS & SPEEDING TRUCKERS When it comes to expressing an opinion on the Mythical Moab Bypass, I might just as well have copied Steve Russell’s great letter to the Moab Times-Independent a few weeks ago. All of our options stink; the best of a sorry lot is to continue as we do now, but with some much needed enforcement of moving violation laws, particularly when it comes to the big truckers. During the frenetic weeks before each press day, I log a lot of copying machine time at Office Equipment on Kane Creek Blvd. To get from there to downtown, I prefer to use the "back way” via Kane Creek and 500 West. We, who live here, know that if we can avoid Main Street, and City Market at 5 pm, and Mill Creek Drive during the Spring, that we can almost create a semblance of normalcy in our lives—as if we actually live in a normal town (Ok..I admit that’s a bit of a stretch.). oe .-but not until traffic gets in front of City Market does the speed drop to 30 MPH. And can you see the sign? . Right now, the craziness is confined to Main Street and it’s better that way. It’s not good; it’s just better. As Russell points out, any alternative route leads trucks and tourist traffic through the heart of Moab’s west residential areas and that is simply not acceptable. The ultimate bypass, converting the first few miles of the Potash Road, building a second bridge at the Portal and creating a high speed route behind, or _ through, the Mountain View Subdivision, would damage the heart and soul of this community beyond anything we have encountered so far...and we’ve encountered a lot. In order to proceed with the kind of grandiose plans that some envision, the government would ultimately have to invoke its right of eminent domain to clear private property from the path of the new highway. How many good conservatives out there like eminent domain? As one great American once said, "You can eminent domain my ass!" In any event, even if the state were to proceed today with a plan to build a bypass, it would take years and the multiple hurdles of legal questions, environmental regulations and, most critical, a lot of funding before anyone in Grand County saw so much as a spadeful of bypass dirt turned. Meanwhile, wouldn’t it be great if law enforcement in Grand County, and especially in downtown Moab, enforced its traffic laws? Last winter, with all kinds of hoopla and at the request of the City Manager, the Moab City Police Department actually enforced the speed limit law as it applies to trucks. They did it for four hours on a Friday afternoon and wrote something like 15 citations and a few warnings. That was about it. They said they didn’t have the staff to enforce the laws on a regular basis. In the last two weeks I’ve almost been broadsided twice by trucks that blew the - light on Main. And no wonder, the Moab P.D. pointed out last winter that they will spot downtown traffic ten miles over the speed limit before they’ll make a car stop. In the heart of downtown, the speed limit is 30 MPH, so a big mega-ton truck rolling through Moab at 40 MPH gets the green light from the cops, even when it’s red. I doubt if a big truck could stop at that speed. Coming from the south, few motorists ever realize that the speed limit drops to 30 MPH. : jaa : : ie : Near JB’s restaurant, drivers see this big 35 MPH sign that is pretty difficult to miss... ce oe o os It’s that tiny little rectangle mounted about 15 feet up a light pole. If we really want downtown traffic to slow down, why don’t we erect a sign that drivers can actually see? Looking long term, if Moab wants to preserve anything of this town, it should be encouraging a different north-south route, one that misses Moab altogether. If we could get Moab to adopt Russell's idea of a 15 MPH them finding an alternative route themselves. limit on truckers, we might just see TAMPERING WITH THE STRUCTURE OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT Recently, the Grand County Council proposed to abolish term limits and the recall provision, as voted on by citizens in the 1992 referendum that changed our form of government. It was gratifying to hear that, after a public hearing, the council believes that changes should only be made by a vote of the people. A short history here might be helpful. More than any other factor, a change in the election laws by the Utah state legislature led to Grand County's unprecedented BROWNTROUT PUBLISHERS. INC. Order Line: 800.777.7812. Fax: 310.316.1138 www.browntrout.com P.O. Box 280070 San Francisco, CA 94128 Uke “ae ay Gras le Peae O aN eonieats MON e We are the largest producers of calendars in the world, with hundreds of titles. Available in Moab at BACK OF BEYOND BOOKS. |