Residents continue to speak out about Freedom Park road extension at Greenwood meeting

Concerns about a potential road extension through Freedom Park dominated public comments during Monday’s Greenwood City Council meeting, though no vote has been taken yet.

At least a dozen residents attended Monday’s city council meeting where a resolution for the adoption of the city’s new comprehensive was formally introduced to council members. Seven of them spoke out about a proposed extension of Stop 18 Road through Freedom Park identified in the plan, which has drawn ire among nearby residents who are opposed to it.

For over a year, officials have been working on developing a new comprehensive plan, which will guide development and growth in the city for the next 10 to 20 years. Throughout the process, the city and consultant HWC Engineering have held several public meetings about the plan to encourage public feedback.

In recent months, residents have turned their focus on an extension of Stop 18 Road through Freedom Park, which officials have identified in plans as far back as 1988. The goal is to add another connection to Freedom Park for residents west of the park.

While there are no immediate plans for this, nearby residents are concerned about its inclusion. Several residents have disagreed with it, voicing opposition and asking the city to consider alternatives. Several have also said they feel their concerns have been dismissed.

Throughout the discussions about the road, city officials have talked about how the plans for it have changed and why they say its needed. It now curves more through the park, which officials have said will improve its future safety. It also allows for the parks department to “activate” different areas of the park, including building additional parking lots off the road, Planning Director Gabe Nelson previously said.

The extension, if built, would be to accommodate the future growth of Freedom Park. Parks officials want to add more amenities to the park in the long-term, transforming it from a neighborhood park to a regional park, Nelson said.

Overall concerns

During an Advisory Plan Commission hearing on Sept. 9, residents spoke out about the extension, asking the city to consider safety and alternatives, among other items. The plan commission heard these arguments from residents, but ultimately voted 7-0, with two members absent, to give a favorable recommendation for approval of the city’s plan without any changes to the extension.

On Monday, some of the residents who spoke out at the plan commission hearing were at the city council meeting to again voice their opposition and to ask the council to remove it or reject the plan. Many of the arguments were similar to what was brought up at the plan commission hearing.

Before the comments turned to the road, resident Mark Webb told the council he opposed the plan’s passage in its current form, suggesting it should be divided into multiple sections for individual review and asking the council to delay approval until concerns are resolved. He took issue with wording in the plan he says will give the planning department more authority to connect roads to reduce congestion when new development or redevelopment comes up. He asked the council to consider whether the planning department needed more authority.

Webb also took issue with the “complete streets” policy, which encourages the connection of neighborhoods through stub-streets to improve safety. He said residents do not want the connections.

Some residents voiced opposition to connected streets during the Walker Farms rezoning earlier this year. The city council ultimately voted to not allow connections at three streets in response to resident concerns, with council member David Hopper offering the amendment that did so.

Webb also took issue with comments Nelson made during an Aug. 26 plan commission hearing that questioned whether a fire truck was a vehicle. Webb later asked a man in the audience to hand out fire trucks to council members in a statement.

Webb said he was not making any accusations about Nelson’s statement, however, he wanted the council to “hold onto these fire trucks as reminders of what can happen with too much power is placed in the hands of a single individual,” he said.

This comment occurred when the city council adopted requirements for Walker Farms that didn’t align with current city ordinances on “restricted vehicle connectivity.” During that meeting, planning staff had proposed a solution that would’ve “preserved the ability to have full connectivity in the future while creating an opportunity for emergency services to access the neighborhood south of the development,” Nelson told the Daily Journal on Tuesday.

“I suggested that ambulances and fire trucks were not the traffic the councilors meant to impede. I was not confused about whether they were ‘vehicles,’” Nelson said. “I believe that life-saving emergency services were not the traffic that Councilor Hopper intended to restrict.”

Extension concerns

Katie Geese, who said she uses Freedom Park often, told the city council bluntly the Stop 18 Road extension through the park is “a stupid idea.” She asked them to vote no on its inclusion.

Safety continues to be a top concern among residents, with several of those who spoke expressing concern about how it could impact it.

James Workman, a resident who previously spoke out about the inclusion of the road, told the council he likes the comprehensive plan overall, but the road will “effectively” split the park in half. It’s crucial for the council to address resident’s concerns about it before the plan is adopted, he said.

While it has been in city plans for as far back as 1988, so much has changed since then, he said. He expressed concern that the inclusion of a road could put children at risk.

Kelli Emkes said the road would be behind her house, and she’s nervous the road could endanger her son.

Because the road would run alongside an existing trail and abut the entrances to facilities like the soccer field, resident Brooke Cuddy believes the extension would create new risks to citizens, she said.

While some departments would like to see the extension done, resident Vince Matthews believes there are alternatives to the extension. There are two east-west through roads nearby: Apryl Drive and Cutsinger Road, and are also several roundabouts proposed nearby in the plan, which will decrease traffic flow in the park, he said.

Matthews also expressed concerns about two proposed roundabouts at the ends of the potential extension.

While the time period for public comment did run out, Council President Mike Campbell told residents the plan would have two more readings, so residents could come back to talk about it at subsequent meetings as well.

‘Long-range planning’

When the adoption resolution was introduced later in the meeting, HWC Engineering Community Planner Adam Peaper said the thoroughfare map included in the plan, which includes the proposed extension, was “long-range planning.” Some of the recommendations in it are dependent upon development happening, while others were dependent upon officials’ wants, he said.

“In all of these cases, there is going to need to be an additional level of analysis, study and engineering done to these,” Peaper said. “It’s not to suggest a road is going to go out and be built based on these lines — or dash lines — on this map. We certainly understand and would encourage additional study.”

When addressing the extension specifically, Peaper said it was reflected on the plan because part of the infrastructure is already there. Officials previously mentioned how part of the roadway is already set up in the park, including a future underpass under a pedestrian bridge and some storm drain infrastructure.

There is interest from city officials in continuing the road as well, Peaper said. Planners have also recommended it get a lower road classification to reflect how it would likely be designed to not handle large amounts of traffic.

While Nelson did not add additional comments at Monday’s meeting, he told the Daily Journal on Tuesday that the city is committed to ensuring that the proposed road “serves the best interests of the entire community while maintaining a safe environment.”

“Greenwood is committed to prioritizing safety with features designed to control traffic flow and protect children and families,” he said.

The proposed extension would also improve emergency access to “key parts” of the park. The closest fire station is west of the park, and the road would dramatically reduce response time, Nelson said.

“We want Freedom Park to be accessible to all — families with strollers, seniors, kids, and people with mobility challenges,” Nelson said. “This road allows them to access and enjoy the park without conflicting with the areas where children play.”