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Resident urges city to finish long‑delayed Edgewood Street connection to protect school access
Summary
A longtime resident told council that Edgewood Street remains unfinished decades after promises to extend it to a junior high school and urged the city to complete the work to ensure safe access in emergencies.
Joseph Van Dam of 801 Edgewood told the council during citizen comments that Edgewood Street was promised to be widened and completed about 60 years ago to provide safer access to a northern‑side junior high school and that the work never finished.
Van Dam said the unfinished 0.2‑mile stretch runs through woods and that recent heavy rains have returned water to a former lakebed; he also said the area contains people staying in the woods and that an earlier shooting scare highlighted access problems. "Let's finish this project or else don't come up and say you're for the safety and you're for the children," he said.
Van Dam recounted historical special assessments paid by neighbors decades ago (he cited amounts of $800 and $1,400 at the time) and urged the council to complete the roadway so emergency vehicles and parents can reliably reach the school if other nearby streets are blocked.
Council members did not take action at the meeting; staff or councilors referenced ongoing corridor and infrastructure studies at other agenda points but did not tie those directly to the Edgewood request.
