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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 2, 2006 Kimberly Wood and other residents of Donna Way in Central Point want to keep the barricades until an alternative is found for allowing access to emergency personnel but not through traffic. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Cul-de-sac barricades create stir Donna Way residents want to prevent their street from being opened up to through traffic, but emergency crews require access By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — For the second time in five years, neighbors of a subdivision off Pine Street are rallying together to voice concerns about turning their quiet cul-de-sac into a through street. The City Council will decide Feb. 9 whether to remove barricades on Donna Way and make it a through street to Taylor Road for emergency personnel, who say the two halves of Donna Way are creating confusion among responders. "The one thing everyone agrees on is that we need to route emergency equipment," said City Administrator Phil Messina. "We can’t keep calling it Donna Way north of the barricades, and Donna Way south of the barricades." The southern half of Donna Way was built some 40 years ago, the north half within the past few years. Homeowners say they oppose removing the barricades until an alternative is in place to allow access for emergency personnel but not for through traffic. Advertisement "When I built on the new Donna Way, I was told by the city it would not be a through street," said Kimberly Wood, who built her home on the north half of Donna Way in 2003. "That was part of my agreement in buying � that was a selling point." Wood said the old and new portions of Donna Way were built according to standards from "two very different times." Connecting the two, she said, would increase traffic and negatively impact aesthetics and real estate value for both sides. But Mark Moran, deputy fire marshal with Fire District No. 3, argued that "public streets having barricades isn’t appropriate." Two dozen residents attended a City Council meeting Thursday to voice their concerns about opening Donna Way. The council postponed a decision until its Feb. 9 meeting to allow time to consider several alternatives. Messina said city planners, residents and emergency services personnel are drafting a "green option" in which a raised, landscaped area would replace the concrete barriers. The green option would allow police, fire and other emergency services to drive through when necessary, while discouraging regular traffic from doing so, he said. The issue first surfaced in 2001, when developers of a new subdivision wanted to punch through Donna Way, then a cul-de-sac, to allow access to Taylor Road. The City Council at the time agreed to install an electric gate to allow only emergency vehicles through. But it was soon deemed too expensive, and emergency personnel feared it could malfunction and reduce response times. Homeowner Jennifer Kerrigan, who lives on the old portion of Donna Way, said her concern was that nothing had been done since 2001. "The green option is fine," she said. "Anything we can put there would be better for emergency vehicles to get through, but I’m concerned it’s been left the way it is all this time even after they talked about it before. "It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. If anything did happen, the city would have a huge problem on their hands." Messina said changes in city staff and rapid development put the issue on a back burner until now. Moran said that while the green option would suffice, he hoped the situation did not set a precedent. "The designs we looked at, yeah, it’ll slow us down a little � but I think they’re a functional option for that type of street," Moran said. "I wouldn’t want to see that on a busier street by any sense of the word. We can’t have a city full of gates and raised strips, but I think it’ll work out fine in this particular situation." Central Point police Lt. Chuck Newell concurred, calling the green option "a very workable solution." Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement