Hello
Please help me obtain the answers to these questions, this is very important
I am doing a research project in regards to vision obstruction on Hwy 116, I have only FIVE QUESTIONS.
[1] When exiting a driveway onto SR Hwy 116 do you have any difficulty seeing on coming traffic from the opposite direction?

[2] What obstructs you view?

[3] What does feel is the major contributing factor of so many accidents on this road?

[4] Is your mailbox on the right or left side of your driveway? [Circle either R/L]


[5] Has your view ever been obstructed from mailbox location?

Thank you for you time and effort

Roy

The Forestville Bypass is now, once more, on hold for a few MORE years because of California budget limits/impending bankruptcy! Mike Reilly brought us up to date at the recent Town Meeting on January 24th.

But that doesn't mean that we won't get traffic lights at the corners of Mirabel/116 and Covey/116. Both the Crinella Project and the Burbank Housing project will require we control the increase in traffic and that's the current proposed solution. With the proposed Woodstone project at Mirabel and Trenton, we could even get one at Mirabel/River.

Yep, Allan Tilton knows all about these because it's the company he works for that studies these things and he's brought them up at the Forestville Planning Association meetings. If he can't find the time to join in on the discussion, we can at least get occassional updates from him.

In my personal opinion, the proposed bypass would be a blessing to downtown Forestville. More traffic comes THROUGH town than stops to shop and both parking shoppers and pedestrians have to deal with these drivers who are not always considerate.

Besides, the top of the bypass is at the top of the hill at Mirabel/116 and anyone sitting at that light can see right into downtown Forestville and decide if it looks appealing enough to come on down and shop. There is only one entrance and exit, since it is a short road and will be elevated as it descends to the lower end coming out south of Packinghouse Road. There are no plans for commerce along its edges and if we do this right, there will be none into the future.

CalTrans is required to give money to Forestville to revitalize the downtown when they remove the highway. This would give us an opportunity to improve parking, sidewalks and make the town more user-friendly.

We WILL adjust as time goes on (even someone as firmly attached to things just the way they are and have been). We CAN make this all work for us. But we MUST be pro-active and get involved in creating Design Guidelines, maybe a Business District - whatever it takes to make the Bypass work FOR us, not against us.

Of course to be of any use at all, the bypass should be a bypass and not just another street. This means limited access (perhaps one opportunity other than either end). If the bypass includes curb cuts every 50 feet or so the trucks will still be roaring through a busy downtown street.

I grew up in a small town in Vermont, just across the Massachusetts border. It was the late 50s when they began construction of I 91 and the merchants all hollered and whined and yelled about losing traffic past their doors. Well, they did lose some traffic, but it was all the people who didn't care anything about them anyway. I-91 is one of the main routes now from southern New England to Vermont, New Hampshire, ski country, Montreal.... None of those people heading north cares anything about grinding through downtown Brattleboro. The reverse is also true on Sunday evenings when they're all on their way home.

Incidentally, it's still about impossible to get through downtown Brattleboro. It's still the only access to the bridge to Hinsdale, New Hampshire and the race track, but there is talk of building another bridge one day, one that bypasses the downtown.

Downtowns should be convenient and safe places for the people who want or need to be there. Everyone else should have an easy and quick passage around.

Allan Tilton, the co-owner of Case Ranch Inn on Poplar Drive, is a traffic engineer by profession and has some definite thoughts about alleviating traffic problems through Forestville. I'll email him and see if we can get him over here to join in the discussion.