Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Traffic Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Neighbors push for measures at Rail Runner entrance; council asks staff to study calming and traffic patterns
Summary
Residents near the Rail Runner development told the council they expect more traffic and safety problems from a proposed multi‑phase rental/townhome project. The council agreed to direct staff to collect data and pursue a traffic engineering study and temporary speed monitoring, rather than unilaterally placing stop signs.
Residents living near the new Rail Runner development told the Roy City Council on July 15 that they are concerned about traffic volume, construction vehicles and safety when the development is occupied.
Speakers described existing construction traffic and projected vehicle volumes. Blaine Esplan said the neighborhood already experiences construction vehicles and that new multi‑story buildings planned next to existing homes would increase traffic and visibility intrusions. Ty Chasten and others said the planning commission had approved a change that could allow 89 townhomes at two parcels with a single ingress/egress, raising questions about emergency access and queuing.
Taylor Anderson, the developer representative from Cole West, told the council the product is for sale townhomes, not rentals, and that the developer is proposing roughly 56 units rather than 89. "These are for sale townhomes. There's no intent to rent for 4,000 a month," Anderson said during public comment; he added the team is aiming for a price point under $400,000 for some units.
Council member Randy Skadden previously visited the neighborhood and proposed installing a stop sign at the development exit as an interim calming measure. City staff and the mayor cautioned that placing stop or yield signs specifically to control speeding is restricted under the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices; staff and council members said an engineering warrant and study are the appropriate path. Council members discussed alternatives including speed‑feedback radar signs, no‑parking restrictions, lane striping to narrow travel lanes, and physical calming (speed humps), and emphasized that any action should be supported by an engineer's analysis.
The council did not place a sign immediately; members agreed to direct staff to collect baseline speed and volume data (using portable radar/speed‑feedback equipment the city possesses) and to add a traffic‑engineering study to a future work plan when occupancy and travel patterns are clearer. That study would evaluate warrants for calming devices and determine if any regulatory change or installation is justified.
Speakers quoted or summarized in this article include neighborhood residents Blaine Esplan, Ty Chasten, Kevin Homer, developer Taylor Anderson and council member Randy Skadden.
