P&Z TO GET IDEAS TO FIX STREETS

Suggestions have been made, questions asked and projects ranked. So what happens now that the city has information from residents about a proposal to extend the Transportation Trust Fund sales tax?

The information will be compiled by Vision 2000, and a report will be presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission at its next regular meeting, said Kent Bratton, city planner.

City staff and members of Vision 2000 held six meetings during April for residents to offer input and suggestions on proposed street projects or any improvements they thought necessary. Few people attended the meetings fewer than 20 in all.

Voters passed a half-cent sales tax in 1995 that is being used to fund street repairs and improvements on a "pay-as-you-go" plan. The tax expires in December.

A preliminary recommendation has been made to the City Council who must act during May to put the issue on an August ballot.

The basic recommendation was to extend the tax for five years and fund $20 million worth of projects, including widening of Siemers Drive, improvements to Independence Street, construction of Silver Springs Road near the site for the new high school and widening Mount Auburn Road from William Street to Bloomfield Road.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a list of 13 projects that could be funded with the tax extension. The proposed projects -- five general and eight specific ones -- were the topic of the meetings. A list of alternative projects also was considered.

The list of projects won't change drastically after the meetings, but some suggestions have been made. "There were some things that came out and we'll add to our alternate list," said Charles Haubold, planning commission chairman.

The commission made its list and tried to find the projects that most people agreed were necessary, and that could be funded with the tax revenue, Haubold said.

The council could change that list but has generally agreed with the commission, he added.

If a Transportation Trust Fund extension is passed, the city will not place any sort of priority on the projects, officials say. Yet, at each Vision 2000 meeting residents were asked to rank the projects based on discussions and handouts given them.

Bratton said he didn't have any particular problems with ranking the projects.

"There can be a priority as long as it's understood that we won't wait for one because another isn't done yet," he said.

Problems arose with the current Transportation Trust Fund program because there was a "perceived commitment to do them in the order in which they were listed," Bratton said.

Obtaining right of way and getting engineering design plans caused some delays so that the projects weren't always started in the order listed by the city, Bratton said.

"Money and engineering always dictate" the projects, Haubold said. "We don't have any control and neither does the council on what's first or No. 8."

However, there are projects on the list that could actually take top priority because they are needed to alleviate traffic problems or have already been designed.

Silver Springs Road construction from Southern Expressway to Kingshighway and Shawnee Parkway to Southern Expressway likely will be the first projects completed under an extension plan because a new public high school is under construction along that portion of road, Bratton said.

"There are some that will get done sooner than later because of Mother Nature," Haubold said. "A lot of things work into the formula. We work fast and as hard as we can, but there are some things that put up a blockade."

Project estimates for an extension of the Transportation Trust Fund:

Overall projects Total

* Existing street paving $450,000 per year $2,250,000

* Street, curb and gutter repair $375,000 per year $1,875,000

* Sidewalk repairs $100,000 per year $500,000

* New sidewalk construction $30,000 per year $150,000

* Install new street light $300,000 per year $1,500,000

Upgrading existing lights

Subtotal $6,275,000

Specific projects

* Widening Independence Street, Kingshighway to Pacific $2,107,000

* General improvement to Independence, Sprigg to Water $327,000

* Widening Siemers Drive; installing traffic lights $1,531,000

* New construction on Silver Springs from Southern Expressway to Kingshighway

$997,000

* New construction of Silver Springs Road from Shawnee Parkway to Southern Expressway $1,073,000

* New construction of Bloomfield Road from Siemers Drive to Stonebridge Drive

$2,208,000

* Widening Broadway from Perry Avenue to Houck Place $1,957,000

* Widening and general improvements Mount Auburn Road, William Street to Bloomfield Road $1,117,000

Subtotal $11,407,000

Contingency funding $2,981,514

Totals $20,663,514