Amy hears the city will be blacktopping a path in that neighborhood. Amy feels already the intersection is dangerous [I am aware that Armstrong north of Alpine has a dip in the road where oncoming traffic might not be ideally visible from Alpine]. Amy believes a path for biking and walking should not be installed without making the intersection a four-way stop, something she favors in any event. A path runs between Hwy.5 and into Alpine Park. Presently, four way stops have been installed at Alpine-Hwy5; Alpine-Sunfish; and Alpine-Ramsey. My understanding is that at each of those three intersections accident frequency and severity have been reduced.
Contact Amy Erickson by email if you wish to join her effort for a change, or to express support; and you can express an opinion via the sidebar poll whether you contact Erickson or not:
aimless55303@yahoo.com
City of Ramsey does a "handoff." Ramsey is not at fault. Amy contacting the city is told it is a county road jurisdiction situation. The city lacks power to change the intersection signage, traffic management on its own.
Two candidates want to be on the County Board and should go on record on the question. We are on the eve of election day. I have emailed before posting to Natalie Steffen and Matt Look, about the situation, requesting responsive email from each, which I will publish, on these questions (between the dotted lines):
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Do you believe making the Alpine-Armstrong intersection a four way stop is merited?
If you favor a four way stop, will you commit now that, if elected, it will be a priority to convince other board members to have the county highway - transportation people make the change?
Would the question of a pathway at the intersection going westward on Alpine, (with one already existing along the wetland on the south side of Alpine between Armstrong and Variolite), make you more or less favorable to making the Alpine-Armstrong intersection a four way stop?
Please answer the three questions, and if you want to add about fifty or so words of explanation, that would also be published.
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_________UPDATE -- STEFFEN RESPONSE____________
I put calls in to Look [the number he has with City of Ramsey on its website] and Steffen [a number from a flyer] noting the short notice on the question, and that I had posted and sent email.
Steffen phoned, about to go door knocking she had no time to email a reply, but the gist is that the question of the county road, Armstrong, and Alpine, which she noted is not a county road but a major Ramsey east-west arterial for the city, needs attention. She would in office press for updated traffic counts and accident data and it would be an administrative question if it "meets warrants" which she explained is a weighting system the county highway people use, administratively, regarding accidents and accident severity, and traffic counts. She would favor it not being a county board policy level matter, but that the board and top county administration make it known to the county highway department that the question merits very serious attention. Because legal liability questions are a part of any such consideration she noted that the county attorney's office also becomes involved in the question. Steffen noted that because of crowding on Hwy 65 and Hwy 10, the county highway grid system is bearing a heavier load over time.
_____UPDATE--CRABGRASS OPINION_____
My hope - apart from Look or Steffen, it is not their opinion but mine - is that the sidebar poll and Amy as a person interested may become a focus for people in Ramsey to mobilize opinion.
Steffen did not say, and the conversation was not lengthy and drawn out because it is the eve of the election and she has many things taking attention, primarily door knocking, but I infer that her response includes knowing that other County places, Andover for example, are seeing the county grid traffic rates increasing also, and that the county board must balance its approach without favoritism or front-running contests between locales - and that the administrative process is best relied upon to use objective and balanced criteria independent of locale.
I think it strange that other County Highway crossings of Alpine are all managed with intersection protections [Hwy 47 even has a traffic light] absent at Armstrong where north-south traffic has no "incentivized" need to slow or show more caution at the Alpine intersection.
I'd like it to be a four way stop, but that's only one sidebar poll vote. I urge each reader to enter a poll response. It will be open until mid-November, to gain a reasonable sample of opinion.
________UPDATE -- LOOK RESPONSE_________
We have had similar issues/concerns further up Armstrong Blvd, at the intersection entering Central Park. The City has tried working with the County on many occasions to remedy problem intersections on county roads. For the record, I supported the four way stop at Alpine and Ramsey Blvd. It was told to us then that the county did not want to change patterns (add a four way stop) on the roadway, for fear of rear-end collisions and the fact that the county would be liable up to $400K, for tort liability limits. After research, the county has never had to cut such a check. Furthermore, for more than a year after the installation of 4 ways, there has not been one accident to date.....prior to the 4 way stop, we averaged 12 accidents a year, I believe one was a fatality and the others were severe property damage accidents.
I would suspect that the same fear of "rear-end collisions" has driven policy on Armstrong. Seeing as those fears are unsubstantiated, I would be in favor of slowing the traffic down. There may need to be a couple of 4 ways installed, both at Alpine and at the intersection feeding Central Park , due to the amount of traffic that goes in and comes out of there. Thankfully there has not been any severe accidents there to the best of my knowledge.
We have experienced better than anticipated success at Ramsey Blvd...I would have to believe that we would have the same success on Armstrong.
One additional issue to consider is that of the new School being proposed, west of Armstrong and south of Alpine. The school will have access to Alpine, which may increase bike traffic to and from the school.
_________CRABGRASS WRAP-UP_________
It will not be the decisive issue in the election, obviously, but it is a community concern that needs the attention of the county - Ramsey cannot alter the intersection on its own.
I think it was helpful to have both people respond, when they obviously are busy.
Whatever your feelings, if you have not voted absentee, do not fail to vote tomorrow.