I am posting the two letters below because at this time I still have yet to receive a response from Brian by either phone or email to answer the questions put forth in these emails and the earlier email presented to Brian Ball and other city officials on February 2nd , 2020. I realize that some delay in our communications problem may be due to Covid19 and I am not anxious at this time to sit down across the table to discuss these issues, however that doesn’t stop me from requesting that a written response should certainly be forthcoming.
Dennis Swingle
March 12, 2020
Brian,
I am glad to get to hear from Judy about making the arrangements to meet regarding my two emails to you about the project. I assume Judy told you that I am scheduled for prostate surgery on Friday the 13th and I expect to be incapacitated for a few days following that surgery. So today I am talking to two other Edgewood Road residents who I have communicated with a number of times about when we might be able to get together and due to my need for some time for recovery I am looking into to a schedule either late in the last week of March like the 25, 26 or 27 otherwise I am thinking sometime the during the first week of April. In the interim prior to the meeting I am requesting a written response to the questions outlined in the two previous emails so that I can review your plans with the other two members of the Edgewood Road community
So as I said before:
“To that end, I requested that you clarify certain statements contained in your email to try and make future discussions on this important issue more productive.”
Thanks,
Dennis Swingle
March 11, 2020
Dear Mr. Ball:
On February 2, I responded to an email you had sent me about various long standing safety concerns on Edgewood Road and the surrounding neighborhoods which I raised before city council on November 25, 2019. I expressed gratitude for your interest in, and indicated a desire to work cooperatively with your office to attempt to resolve, those safety concerns. To that end, I requested that you clarify certain statements contained in your email to try and make future discussions on this important issue more productive. The next day, February 3, you sent me an email stating that you would have Judy Ashcraft from your office contact me to schedule a meeting. Since then, I have not heard anything further from you or your office. I have not received any clarification of your comments, and a meeting has not been discussed, much less scheduled.
In an effort to move this matter forward as quickly as possible, I believe it is appropriate to ask:
- Do you acknowledge that residents have a legitimate complaint about traffic speeding on Edgewood Road and in the surrounding neighborhoods?
- Do you acknowledge that prohibited traffic, “through” commercial trucks/semis, ignoring traffic laws and using Edgewood Road and surrounding neighborhood streets illegally to travel between Coshocton Road (US 36) and Gambier Road (SR 229) is wrong and constitutes a safety concern for residents in the area? If so, what do you and the administration plan to do to stop/minimize it? If not, why not?
- Mayor Matt Starr, last year while serving on city council, conducted a simple, inexpensive, yet extremely effective and telling traffic study (local students actually drove the routes) which established that the drive time from, I believe, the south side of Mount Vernon to a specified point on Coshocton Road, whether through town or accessing Edgewood Road, was virtually the same when traffic laws and regulations were observed. As I stated in my email of February 2, traffic on Edgewood Road and through the surrounding neighborhoods can be reduced by making those residential streets less attractive to cars and semi-trucks that, in an effort to save time, break the law (a police presence and enforcement of speed and prohibited traffic laws are preferred, speed bumps are a viable alternative). What, if anything, has been or is being done in this regard?
- Is the SR 229 connector/bypass incorporating round-abouts published in the Mount Vernon News in the fall of 2019, or any modification thereof, currently being considered by your office and/or the administration to facilitate travel between Coshocton Road (US 36) and Gambier Road (SR 229)? If yes, what is being done? If not, why not?
- Is your office and/or the administration considering or pursuing the widening of Edgewood Road north of SR 229? If yes, what has or is being done?
- Is your office and/or the administration considering or pursuing the extension of Edgewood Road north of SR 229 to Coshocton Road (US 36)? If yes, what has or is being done?
Answers to these questions, as well as those raised in my February 2 email, are pertinent to and would be extremely helpful to me when preparing for any discussion with you concerning Edgewood Road. More importantly, in the name of transparency, the public has a right to know. I look forward to your response, as well as the scheduling of a meeting, at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Dennis Swingle
cc: Mayor Starr, Safety Service Director Dzik, Police Chief Morgan , Law Director Broeren and City Council