RE: more city business

["Barbara Richardson" <edc@moscow.com>]

The reason the Main Street expansion wasn't feasible was explained on
several occasions.  In order to expand across main street Patient services
will be disrupted.  The expansion is for a specific purpose -to increase the
number of patient beds and to expand the operating suites.  Because of the
current design of Gritman, if the expansion happened across Main Street, you
would have to disrupt patient care.  I suggested that anyone concerned about
this issue, contact Gritman and they will explain exactly the process that
was undertaken to determine the 8th street closure was fiscally the best.

It amazes me that a community that prides itself on fiscal responsibility,
would ask an entity that provides health services to spend additional
revenue to maintain a street that was one-way 8 months ago.  On the original
couplet design by Moscow residents, 8th street was schedule for closure.  If
Gritman agreed to pursue a more costly solution, would we as a community be
willing to pay for it?

Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: WMSteed@aol.com [mailto:WMSteed@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 1:51 PM
To: ncmholmes@moscow.com; vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Re: more city business



In a message dated 11/14/01 11:11:53 AM, ncmholmes@moscow.com writes:

<< The disruption of traffic flow across Washington on 8th Street may be a
good thing. Without a traffic bypass around Moscow it will become
increasingly competitive and dangerous to drive, walk or bicycle across
Washington Street. >>

This presumes all traffic now or in the future using 8th "crosses"
Washington.  I would suggest that a majority of vehicle traffic comes from
the east and south, then up Washington and turns left onto 8th, heading
either for the University or Main Street.  Remember, Gritman, at the urging
of the City, now has a design that presumes to allow pedestrians and
bicyclists to continue to move from Washington to Main and vice-versa;
therefore, any concern about traffic by those modes of travel crossing
Washington will remain even with the closing of 8th.

Also, the reference to a bypass is interesting.  I would submit that with a
bypass the ability to go east-west and west-east in Moscow will become even
more important and closing one of the existing ways to do that will not have
been beneficial.

Steve Bush's motion to table the request was predicated by the statement
this
was an either/or question; expand Gritman and close 8th or do not close 8th
and don't expand Gritman.  I would suggest the two could be separated by
keeping 8th open and the City suggesting Gritman find another solution to
their expansion; possibly even going into Main Street as Gritman also owns
property west of Main.  With the South couplet, it doesn't seem closing Main
would cause near as much disruption as closing 8th.  Someone has pointed out
that if they were to keep going west in the future, they would then "front"
on both north and south traffic through Moscow.

Walter Steed