Email from Chris BroerFlease keep the existing Meridian Road and Main Street traffic configuration in place
Public Hearing an the Downtown Meridian Transportation Management Plan, July 26, 2005
Written testimony of: Christopher Broer, 387 West Woodbury Drive, Meridian
I don't support spending millions of tax dollars to widen Meridian Road, because of the many
negative effects such widening would have on our existing neighborhoods. Putting a road that
has as many lanes as Eagle Road through an originally residential neighborhood wouldn't affect
just the homeowners directly on Meridian Road. Everyone who's between the interstate and the
far-flung areas these proposals would encourage development in, would eventually have more
traffic coming through their neighborhoods as a result.
Those of us near Meridian Road would not only have a diminished quality of life from the
additional traffic, but our families' biggest assets, our existing homes, wi111ose value for two
reasons: First, there will be less demand for our existing homes because people won't want to
live next to the new heavier traffic corridor. As the January 19, 2005 Idaho Statesman reported,
the traffic streets bear influences the desirability of a neighborhood. Second, there would be an
additional supply of new homes in far-flung areas of Meridian from people who view the current
commute time to there as too long, but who would build out there if those of us "down stream"
were paved over. We're already more densely populated than either Boise or Garden City, and
three times more densely populated than Eagle, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
These proposals might be worth considering if the only winners were the current commuters in
Meridian. If these proposals were coupled with a building moratorium, it could then be said the
benefits of increased capacity would fully accrue to existing taxpayers. But we all know that as
soon as capacity is added, it will only encourage more development such that the new, wider
road is right back up to the same commute time within a couple of years. I support the free
market. If developers want to build large subdivisions in the far-flung parts of Meridian, they
shouldn't be subsidized by taxpayer dollars for these proposals.
Existing residents are told to "comprorriise" to allow such an increase in all these lanes. I would
respectfully state that the best way to maintain quality of life for existing residents is to maintain
the current system, save our tax dollars, and allow traffic to act as a natural brake on excess
growth. Pedestrians who now walk across two lanes of Meridian Road to get to downtown will
have to walk across up to five lanes according to these proposals, ironically making it less
desirable for them to walk.
k'inally, since the roads need to be widened primarily because of new subdivisions being
approved far from downtown, impact fees from those developers should pay for these projects,
not tax dollars. If our impact fees aren't high enough, they can be raised. Please let our existing
traffic layout remain in place.
Thank you for your consideration.
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