Kings Gate ‘cushion’ questions for Town
“There’s a whole lot bigger area (affected) than what’s (depicted on the engineering map),” Kings Gate resident Bob Dunlop said. “We have three entrances into Kingsgate … I think your area is way too small.”
Assistant Town engineer Brannon Tupper recommended installing two 3-inch-tall speed cushions — speed bumps with breaks in it— at two locations about 150 to 200 feet back from the intersection. These are asphalt speed cushions, which are less aggressive than speed bumps used in areas, such as Thornton Heights.
“Traffic calming is any sort of engineering control to slow speeding on any roadway,” Tupper said, adding that based on their data, the Engineering Department determined there was enough speeding to warrant measures.
The Town’s Engineering Department responded to an application it received Feb. 3, 2021, for traffic calming measures along Midhurst Drive and Red Mill Lane.
The policy states the application must come from at least two households.
“This particular application came from one individual,” Tupper said. “I asked them to go back and poll his neighbors … he brought back two additional residents.”
Kings Gate resident Angela Russell questioned the application itself.
“One of the supposed residents that was on the application is a person who was staying at my home … for nine plus years,” Russell said. “He was not a long-term resident … he no longer lives there. Why was his information accepted?”
She also said another person listed on the application was a renter.
“I don’t think your application was properly submitted in the first place,” Russell added. “I understand you are just doing your job and you acted in good faith when you accepted the application, (but) I’m saying the other people did not act in good faith.”
Tupper said Town Engineering’s count was 1,250 cars a day at the Midhurst-Red Mill intersection.
But Russell pointed out a different traffic number.
“I’d like to point out in 2019, according to (Tennessee Department of Transportation) … they reported less than 250 cars,” Russell said. “The increase has been because of the traffic with road closures.
“I’ve owned my property for eight or nine years at that very corner you’re talking about,” she added. “Not one time has a car ended up on my property. Not one time has my mailbox been knocked over.
“Again, I think things should be stalled and reconsidered because, obviously, the two road closures have resulted in n unusual amount of traffic on that road that was not there before.”
“But it’s the speed that they’re going,” attendee Carrie Phipps said. However, she declined to go up to the podium to speak.
Doug Russell, Angela’s husband, also contended the traffic volume was erroneous, showing Town Engineer Darryl Smith the data he accumulated.
“You’re not looking at the right stuff,” he said. “I’ve got the TDOT ID … it will give you an accurate count.”
Dunlop asked about the policy regarding “a minimum of two households.”
“Is that owners, is that renters or is that anybody in the household?” he questioned.
“The policy itself does not define what is the resident,” Tupper replied. “I would defer that to the commonly accepted definition of a resident, which is the person who resides in the dwelling. From an application standpoint, I don’t think the policy prohibits a household that has renters in it from submitting an application.
“With that said, the policy specifically does address the voting process,” he added.
However, Dunlop pointed out “the policy isn’t real tight.”
