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Residents press council on Market Street traffic; petition seeks prompt action on separate development issue
Summary
During public comment at the June 30 meeting residents raised longstanding traffic concerns at Market Street intersections and urged the council to act quickly on a citizen petition related to a development matter; councilors acknowledged the concerns and said agenda timing prevented action that night.
Several members of the public addressed the South Burlington City Council on June 30 about traffic problems on Market Street and asked the council to move quickly on a petition related to a separate development matter.
Barbara Service, a South Burlington resident, said she supports finding a different solution for a property on Dorset Street that affects the mountain view, then focused on traffic on Market Street where she lives in Summer Woods off Patchin Road. Service described chronic delays for drivers trying to go west on Market Street across Dorset and suggested repurposing the existing right-turn lane as a shared “right-turn or through” lane to reduce backups. She told the council the change would "just take some paint" and could ease the congestion near the mall intersection.
Service also relayed a neighborhood request for the council to examine left-turn difficulty from Market onto Hinesburg Road at certain times of day and suggested the city consider a signal or other solutions as Market Street traffic increases.
Resident Jimmy Lees, participating remotely, said he agreed with Service and pressed the council to schedule an agenda date to discuss and vote on a petition he and others circulated concerning a matter identified in the transcript as related to “Bridal” (petition document name as circulated by residents). Lees told the council more than 300 people had signed the petition as of that day and said he was concerned that imminent construction activity by a party he referred to as "jam golf" could begin work before the council considered the matter. Lees asked councilors to move the item onto the agenda as soon as possible so citizens would know whether to use the formal citizen-request process to force placement on a July 7 agenda.
Councilors and the city manager said the item was not on that night's agenda and that staff would need time to determine timing; they asked for follow-up by email or phone. No formal action on the traffic suggestions or the petition was taken that night.
Councilors later acknowledged traffic and parking concerns when discussing other agenda items and encouraged residents to follow up with staff about specific intersection locations and possible short-term fixes.
