Around the Water Cooler panelists answered the following: Should the city agree to close Nash Road from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. between Monterey and West streets near the high school, during the school year, until a bypass is built?
Jim West No. Councilman Friend hit the nail on the head when he said that if 500 kids are trying to cross Nash Road there probably won’t be an accident, but if a single kid tries dash across one of the side streets—there’s a real danger.
Mary Zanger No. However, there may be another choice. Make Nash Road into a one-way street between Monterey and West. Then by driving Powell or Line to South Street to San Benito Street back to Nash completes the circle. Monterey and West could still be two ways for residential requirements. This could take advantage of the “through” streets of Powell, Line and South, which could then function as a “bypass”.
Ruth Erickson No! The local residential side streets are not equipped to handle increased traffic, will be impacted even more than they are now and it would be unfair to those residents. The crossing guards need to get the students moving to change their dawdling habits especially when they are en masse. The high school should speed up plans expeditiously for a new bypass or some other solution. After all, this has been a growing problem and should have been dealt with years ago. The student population has increased and will be growing again when all the new homes are built and occupied in the next few years.
