At a time when the City, as of just a few weeks ago, promulgated a traffic study report and its concerns over the approaching cataclysms at the south intersections of Whiskey Road, it is incomprehensible that the City Council should have been so traffic insensitive in this case. The history of the avoidance by the City in considering a traffic study in this case is pitiful.
The annexation petition for Woodside Phase III was brought to the Planning Commission by Southern Partners without the required traffic study, which they as professionals knew should have been included. In his report to the Commission of May 10, 2001, the City Planning Director called this deficiency to the attention of the Commission-and obviously to the attention of Southern Partners-stating, “Such information is not included…and action by the Commission should not be taken until it is.” Southern Partners did not correct its petition and the Commission ignored the Director by not refusing to take action. Instead it took action, totally ignorant and apparently without any care as to the traffic impact of the development, and passed the petition in spite of three of its members again calling the deficiency to the attention of the Commission. That malfeasance was passed on to the City Council.
The City Council did defer a first reading until a “Traffic Impact Analysis” report was provided to them by Woodside Development-barely an hour before a first reading session. As traffic impact analyses are incomprehensible to the common man, the City Council was urged to secure an independent evaluation by its own traffic engineer. It didn't and instead moved ahead, confirmed in its own ignorance, to a first reading.
On the occasion of the second and public reading, just last Monday, June25, Woodside Development's traffic engineer admitted that the analysis was faulted in that it did not take into account some of the traffic sources on Silver Bluff Road. It was also faulted because the traffic survey count was taken on a non-school day, employed as an egress point a entrance not open, and did not do a traffic impact analysis on the critical, full intersection of East Gate Drive and Whiskey Road. The easy conclusion reached by the public and could not help but to have been reached by the City Council, was that the “Traffic Impact Analysis” presented could not be relied upon. The City Council was urged again to get its own traffic engineer to review the traffic impact of the development. Of course, it did not. It passed the annexation ordinance without the benefit of the required competent traffic impact analysis report. The City, its citizens and its environs must now live with that lack of forthrightness.
Regretfully, it is apparent that the City has no sophistication with regard to the subject of traffic. It has ordinances that require traffic studies but, in an anomaly, does not have on its staff or retain a traffic engineer to review them. The one without the other is meaningless. But it doesn't seem to know that yet.
One of the urgent purposes of Smart Growth Aiken will be to create a public awareness of a Traffic Impact Analysis Ordinance and the education of the City Council of the need for such an ordinance. There will be apparent lethargy at first and then outright opposition later. But we shall work diligently to accomplish this good for the community.
Very truly yours,
James M. Wetzel
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