Some Traffic Statistics for Magnolia Avenue

From an email sent to Kim Dunne by Lt. Richard Hetherington, Patrol Division Commander, Frederick Police Department:

-------------------------------

Good morning. I have been copied on several e-mails regarding the issues surrounding Hood College. I understand that the issues were brought up at the most recent NAC meeting and that Hood College is going to try and address the issues that they can. We will make every attempt to address the parking and speed issues and I recall that Chief Dine made you aware of our speed enforcement efforts througho ut the City. In additon to that I wanted to share some other numbers with you. As you may or may not know we have portable speed signs that we post around the City in response to speed complaints in an effort to get traffic slowed down. Those signs were placed around Magnolia Ave. on several occasions and I wanted to share with you the results of that effort.

Between July 23 and July 27 there was a speed monitoring device set up in the 500 block of Magnolia Ave. viewing traffic northbound. There was a total of 3,642 vehicles observed. The average speed was 23.6 miles per hour with 85% of the vehicles traveling less than 29 miles per hour. Of the 3,642 only 20 were observed traveling in excess of 39 miles per hour. Of the 3,642 vehicles observed 2,321 were traveling below 25 miles per hour. The most highly traveled time period was between noon and 1:00 p.m.

Between July 23 and July 25 there was a speed monitoring device set up in the 500 block of Magnolia Ave. viewing traffic southbound. There was a total of 2,509 vehicles observed. The average speed was 24.1 miles per hour with 85% of the vehicles traveling less than 29 miles per hour. Of the 2,509 only 5 were observed traveling in excess of 39 miles per hour. Of the 2,509 vehicles observed 1,505 were traveling below 25 miles per hour. The most highly traveled
time period was between 5 and 6:00 p.m.

Between July 30 and August 22 there was a speed monitoring device set up in the 500 block of Magnolia Ave. viewing traffic northbound. There was a total of 2,879 vehicles observed. The average speed was 23.2 miles per hour with 85% of the vehicles traveling less than 29 miles per hour. Of the 2,879 only 5 were observed traveling in excess of 28 miles per hour. Of the 2,879 vehicles observed 1,900 were traveling below 25 miles per hour. The most highly traveled time period was between noon and 1:00 p.m.

Between July 30 and August 15 there was a speed monitoring device set up in the 500 block of Magnolia Ave. viewing traffic southbound. There was a total of 6,452 vehicles observed. The average speed was 24.1 miles per hour with 85% of the vehicles traveling less than 29 miles per hour. Of the 6,452 only 26 were observed traveling in excess of 29 miles per hour. Of the 6,452 vehicles observed 3,822 were traveling below 25 miles per hour. The most highly traveled time period was between noon and 1:00 p.m.

Between August 27 and September 13 there was a speed monitoring device set up in the 500 block of Magnolia Ave. viewing traffic northbound. There was a total of 6,313 vehicles observed. The average speed was 23.0 miles per hour with 85% of the vehicles traveling less than 28 miles per hour. Of the 6,313 only 21 were observed traveling in excess of 39 miles per hour. Of the 6,313 vehicles observed 4,395 were traveling below 25 miles per hour. The most highly traveled time period was between 5 and 6:00 p.m.

Between August 27 and September 16 there was a speed monitoring device set up in the 500 block of Magnolia Ave. viewing traffic southbound. There was a total of 5,413 vehicles observed. The average speed was 22.8 miles per hour with 85% of the vehicles traveling less than 28 miles per hour. Of the 6,313 only 21 were observed traveling in excess of 39 miles per hour. Of the 6,313 vehicles observed 3,748 were traveling below 25 miles per hour. The most highly traveled time period was between 3 and 4:00 p.m.

We will continue to monitor and enforce traffic violations in this area in an effort to address your concerns about speed and safety. If you have any questions about the above date or would like to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact me.

Lt. Richard Hetherington
Patrol Division Commander
Frederick Police Department
100 West Patrick St.
301-600-1228
rhetherington@fredco-md.net
Web: www.cityoffrederick.com/police

Results from the 10/15 NAC meeting

Hello Everyone --

As you know, a NAC 6/ NAC 9 meeting was held on October 15th at the Talley Recreation Center. There was a very good turnout of our interested neighbor group members. Also in attendance were: Chief Kim Dine city police, our "beat" officer S.E. Maples and partner, Stephanie Ambush city NAC liaison, Steve Johnson from the city Traffic Engineering Department, Rick Puller Director of Campus Safety and Richard Kahley Finance and Administration Facilities Hood College.

What we learned:

• For the period September 17th to October 14th:
• The police responded to 471 calls for service resulting in 11 arrests in NAC 6
• The police responded to 375 calls for service resulting in 10 arrests in NAC 9

City of Frederick has a feature on the website which lists/pinpoints incidents, and you can sign up for email alerts. Go to www.cityoffrederick.com and link to the police website - Spires GIS's Crime Map.

For traffic complaints of all types, speeding , parking, etc. call the non-emergency number for the police 301-600-2102. You will report the problem to the on-duty supervisor, who will relay it for action.

We will have to be persistent in our calls to get any action. The police voiced empathy for our situation, but at the same time stated they do not monitor or take action on these situations without significant citizen input.

It was also noted that typically "people perceive that cars are speeding when they really are not. The Chief admitted that the flashing speed monitor signs move around the city. They are frequently out of service because they are battery operated, and replacing batteries is not a priority.

Response to parking and traffic violations is very much complaint driven. If we want action- we must complain.

Anyone who attended the breakfast at Hood College heard the position of Hood College. The new information is that if you have an issue with a vehicle that you can identify as a Hood College student, faculty/staff member or service vehicle, record the information and call Rick Puller at 301-696-3548, or email him the information at puller@hood.edu. He has promised to follow up with every identified "offender"to try to dissuade them from the objectionable behavior.

If you have questions or concerns about construction/development ­expansion on the Hood campus, contact Richard Kahley. He can be reached at 301-696-3545, or by email at kahley@hood.edu.

From the traffic engineers office we learned that crosswalk signals are to be installed soon at the intersection of 7th Street and Fairview Avenue. They favor signage in our area with "No parking here to corner" over yellow painted curbs. If you have a handicapped parking permit, you qualify for designated reserved handicapped parking in front of your residence. We must go through a formal process to request any change to our streets in regards to parking restrictions, traffic calming, signals and signage, speed reduction, etc. Essentially we need to consider what we would like to see happen, and petition the city for action. You can go to www.cityoffrederick.com, look for Departments, then click on Engineering, click on Traffic. Thoughts? Comments?

The next NAC meeting will be at the Talley Recreation Center on November 19th at 7:00pm on the third floor.

As a matter of "housekeeping" I have had to adjust our email address. Please make a note that the correct email address is now hood-neighbors@comcast.net. The dash between hood and neighbors is new.

Thanks so much to all who attended and have forwarded comments to me. Keep it coming! It would be helpful if you would indicate on any email to me whether or not we have your permission to post it to our blog site.

Kim Madden for Hood Neighbors

City of Frederick's Letter to Hood College With Parking Lot Concerns

The City of Frederick sent a letter to Hood College (PDF format) on October 10, 2008 listing some major concerns with Hood College's planned parking lot.

Nearly all of this letter is in technical terms; I'm not too sure I understand this. (Comments and translations are welcome.) However, apparently Hood College has already completed transformation of a set of tennis courts to a parking lot, and is now (belatedly?) seeking approval from the City.

Concern with Adequate Landscape Screening / Setback

From an architect / planner who lives on Magnolia across from the Hood College athletic fields. Many thanks, Erik.

All Hood neighbors should be concerned about an error in the City's Land Management Plan that would permit the college to place a high density residential, industrial (steam plant), or athletic facility anywhere along the campus perimeter adjacent to the neighborhood without adequate screening or setback. Article 605.d & .e and Table 605.3 of the LMC currently only requires Level I screening between R6 and IST zones. This is effectively just one white pine tree every twenty feet at the property line, with no fence or setback. The back of the hospital property along Park Avenue is an example of how bad this could look.

A text amendment should be effected that includes the IST use with the M1, M2 & MXE uses in this table and thus requires Level III or even IV screening (heavy and wide landscape buffer, 6' masonry wall) between residential neighborhoods and float ing institutional zones. Any Alderman can sponsor this amendment, and it shouldn't be too difficult to persuaded our NAC representative to assist us with this simple modification. Hood's acceptance of this change would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their oft-state intention to be a good neighbor. It would require no significant current or future capital cost from them but offer an enormous reassurance to us that the residential character of our area remains intact.

Erik was able to supply us with a copy of the relevant City of Frederick Land Management Code section, which I've uploaded for all to view.

Notice of Upcoming Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) Meeting

To All Hood Neighbors -

Many of you have emailed to ask "what is our next step"? To that end, I sent an email to Chief of Police Kim Dine yesterday evening, asking some very pointed questions about who to contact for help with our neighborhood concerns. I am forwarding his response to my email, which includes the very important news of an already scheduled Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) meeting on October 15th, 7pm at the Tally Recreation Center (the armory). [This meeting involves both NAC 6 and NAC 9.]

Please mark your calendars to attend this meeting if at all possible. Because of our interest, and the number of emails all echoing the same frustrations, Chief Dine has requested that the City of Frederick send a representative from the Planning and Traffic Departments to be at this meeting. This email thread was originally copied to Mayor Holtzinger, President Volpe, and others. I do not know at this time if Hood College will send a representative to this meeting.

This may be our first real opportunity to voice our concerns in front of the people who have the authority to actually effect some changes. I will send out a reminder notice as the meeting approaches.

Thanks to all of our Hood Neighbors who have taken the time to post comments to our blog, contact our local officials, and have indicated a willingness to participate in this process.

Kim Madden for Hood Neighbors

hood-neighbors@comcast.net

405 Magnolia Avenue

Frederick, MD 21701

A Third Letter to the Chief, and yet another Response

Another letter to the Police Chief:

Kim:

Let me express our gratitude for taking the leadership role in watching over the needs of our neighborhood.

You are so right - this is Deja Vu all over again. Hood has always gotten just what they want through use of an aggressive attorney.

Coming onto Rosemont from N. College Parkway has become dangerous because visibility to the right is non- existant. The added exit from Hood onto Rosemont hasn't helped.

Students parking in front of my house and along our street-on both sides creates a hazard as the street-like Magnolia is so narrow that traffic coming both ways is " hary ". Perhaps many streets should be one way.

It is frustrating to come home and find that there is no place to park.

Perhaps signs limiting parking to two hours might help.

Hood made an effort several years ago to get students to park in the lot near their chapel but students were not so inclined.

In any case, deep appreciation for your close involvement. Glad to see you are bringing the police into the problem.

Bob Tansey

Friendly Neighbor

And here's the police chief's response:

Dear Bob:

Thanks for your email. Captain Grubb and I just discussed this morning the meeting that was held last year on this issue. Since then, as you probably know, the City Traffic Engineer left and I am thinking some of what he indicated he (the City) could perhaps work on perhaps did not occur in the transition. We are going to try and rekindle this discussion with Devon Hahn, the current traffic engineer, who does a wonderful job. I am not aware of how much she has been brought into the loop on these issues.

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to email us and work with us!

KCD

Another Letter to the Chief, and a Response

Another letter to the Frederick Police Chief (italics as in original):

Dear Chief Dine -

My name is Kim Madden, residing for the last twenty-two years at 405 Magnolia Avenue. Like Mr. Muldowney and many of my neighbors, I attended the recent Presidential Breakfast at Hood College. It was reminiscent of other meetings I have attended over these many years. I attended a NAC meeting some time ago regarding most of these same associated issues with traffic, parking, and Hood College. Several of my neighbors also attended that meeting, as did some representatives from Hood College. Many thoughts and ideas for improving the troubled situation were brought out that evening. Absolutely nothing changed or improved as a result of that meeting. The public position of the College then, and now, is that our issues with parking, traffic flow, speeding, littering, and so forth are areas to take up with the City of Frederick. The problems of two years ago, were the problems of two years before that, and are the exact same problems we face today with one notable difference - they are much, much worse.

You mentioned that you meet regularly with citizens during monthly meetings. When is the next meeting for our area? Does it require special planning or notification? What can we do to set up a date for the Hood Neighbors to address the appropriate entities with their concerns? Who can we direct our questions to? Who can guide us through the options of traffic calming, stop signs or other traffic signals, curb painting, residential parking designation and permits etc.?

I will look forward to your response.

Sincerely

Kim Madden for Hood Neighbors

hood-neighbors@comcast.net

405 Magnolia Avenue

Frederick, MD 21701

And here's the Police Chief's response:

Dear Kim:

Thanks for your response and thanks for taking the time to express your (continued) concerns. I am now more sorry than ever that I was unable to attend the breakfast. In any case, I do recall the meeting of last year as well. What I think potentially occurred since then is that the City Traffic Engineer who attended that meeting left employment with the City and I fear much of what was discussed perhaps was not fully passed on. In any case, that is the past and we (the City, all of its agencies and all stakeholders) certainly look forward to working with all parties to try and improve the situation.

As you noted, we (the City not just the PD) meet monthly with each Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC). All the information regarding the NAC process is on the City Website, including time,location, etc. The area we are talking about I believe is included in Neighborhood Advisory Council 6 and Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) 9, which now meet together at the Talley Recreation Center at Baker Park. The next meeting is October 15th at 7 pm. By way of this email, I am copying Ms. Stephanie Ambush, who is in charge of Citizen Outreach for the City. Ms. Ambush can request that someone from the Planning and Traffic Department be there to hear and discuss your concerns. Ms. Kelly Russell is the citizen volunteer who oversees this meeting from the citizen end of things. She is the coordinator for NAC 9. I am also copying Ms. Russell. This is the type of meeting where you can pose the quest ions you raised in your email and begin to get answers. Obviously this is a problem solving process and depending on the issue can take time, but over and over again we have found it to be productive on many fronts. Due to the intensity and complexity of this issue, it may well be that a separate meeting with residents and officials from the College may help, similar to the meetings held in the past.

Thanks again for contacting me. I hope this information is helpful.

KCD

Kim C. Dine
Chief of Police
Frederick Police Department
Frederick, Maryland
100 West Patrick Street
Frederick, Maryland, 21701

www.cityoffrederick.com/police
telephone:301-600-2106
email:kdine@fredco-md.net
facsimile: 301-600-2720

Frederick Police Chief's Response

Frederick Police Chief Kim Dine's response to a letter written by Patrick Muldowney is reprinted below, with formatting edited slightly:

Dear Mr. Muldowney:

Thank you for your email and for taking the time to express your concerns about growing traffic issues in the City. Obviously you are correct in that the City and its challenges continue to grow - all positives in most respects. With that growth, traffic issues and concerns continue to grow as well. We are extremely cognizant of that fact. We meet with residents across the City monthly (in our Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) meetings and other neighborhood meetings) and hardly a meeting goes by where traffic concerns do not come up as part of the discussion. I certainly appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns as it is this kind of interaction that we want to foster and nurture. Quite often, it is through emails and interaction and feedback from the NAC meetings where we learn where the most egregious traffic issues (as well as other concerns) are taking place.

While I am also glad you have not been involved in our enforcement efforts, I am a bit surprised that you have not seen them in action. In fact, some folks think we are too aggressive in terms of our traffic enforcement. Regardless, I can tell you that they are on-going and very aggressive, as well as multi-faceted in terms of the City's approach to these issues. They include:

1. application of traffic calming efforts by the City engineer, to include speed humps, traffic circles, etc.
2. use of electronic speed signs by the FPD, to slow traffic and provide statistical data
3. implementation of our Red Light Photo Enforcement Program, which we started about 5 years ago, and through which hundreds of violations are issued monthly
4. and lastly, what we call traditional enforcement by our officers, which includes radar use, traffic stops, etc., which actually is very aggressive.

Some statistics for moving violations issued by our officers, not including the Red Light numbers I mentioned above:

• 2005 -- over 10,000 moving citations
• 2006 -- over 10,000 moving citations
• 2007 -- over 11,000 moving citations
• 2008 - year to date -- over 9000 citations

Since 2005, we have issued over 41,000 moving citations to folks driving in Frederick. We engage in these efforts all over the City. We will continue these efforts and will also continue to interact with our residents on a constant basis to learn about their concerns. Aggressive traffic enforcement not only obviously addresses traffic issues, but has shown to be a very effective crime fighting tool as well. We have also done a number of things inside the agency to facilitate and enhance our responsiveness to each neighborhood. For example, if you go on the City website or our police website, you can directly contact supervisors we have assigned to each NAC, to immediately facilitate problem solving efforts.

I hope this at least somewhat addresses the issue you raised. If not, I am very glad to meet and/or discuss further. Thanks again for taking the time to email me and discuss your concerns.

Thanks.
KCD

Kim C. Dine
Chief of Police
Frederick Police Department
Frederick, Maryland
100 West Patrick Street
Frederick, Maryland, 21701
www.cityoffrederick.com/police
telephone:301-600-2106
email:kdine@fredco-md.net
facsimile: 301-600 -2720

Letter to Frederick Police Chief from a Resident

A resident recently sent this letter to the Frederick City Police Chief. He gave permission to share this letter with us:

Dear Chief Dine,

I have been a resident of Frederick City since 1996 and my family currently resides at 503A Magnolia Avenue. Frederick is a growing, thriving and exciting community and we enjoy the quality of life that the city offers, but as you know, with this growth comes many challenges. The purpose of this correspondence is to address a particular challenge of growing concern, that being traffic enforcement, or lack thereof.

When I moved to Frederick, speed enforcement was commonplace on main thoroughfares within the city, particularly on those that dissected residential neighborhoods. However, over the past several years, despite the increased traffic I cannot recall once having seen the Frederick City Police Department conducting speed enforcement operations. Specifically, Magnolia and Fairview Avenues have become main thoroughfares between Rosemont Avenue and 7th Street, due mainly to the growth of Frederick Memorial Hospital and Hood College.

To exacerbate the problem, the enrollment at Hood College has far exceeded parking capacity on campus and as a result, overflow has spilled onto the neighborhood streets. Cars often line both sides of the street some of which routinely block driveways and encroach on intersections. Quite frankly, Magnolia Avenue is a recipe for disaster, essentially becoming a two direction, single lane main thoroughfare. This congestion doesn't seem to impede the high rate of speed of many vehicles. Despite numerous calls to the Police Department voicing our concerns, we have not seen any response. I would also think that regular traffic enforcement would generate revenue for the city, particularly during a time when budgets are under significant pressure.

Please take this letter in the vain in which it is meant, that being the concern for the safety of the families in our neighborhoods. I welcome any input that you may have.

Sincerely,

Pat Muldowney

Summary of Oct 1st Breakfast Meeting

This is from a slightly edited email circulated to Hood residents by Kim. We welcome your thoughts, comments, and concerns -- please post them as comments to this post.

-----------------------------------

Dear Hood Neighbors:

A significant number of people turned out for the meeting at Hood College, despite the scheduling challenges presented by the early morning timeslot. President Volpe and several key members of his "senior staff" were on hand. The prepared remarks by President Volpe covered the history of the College, the financial difficulties of previous years, the current state of the campus and student body, and finally the "Master Plan."

Among the interesting facts we learned:

• Hood has approximately 1,500 undergraduate students- a number they consider optimal
• 140 students are residing in leased apartments due to a lack of on-campus housing There are roughly 1,000+ graduate students

President Volpe stated emphatically that there are no decisions regarding the Master Plan.

Despite that declaration we were also informed:

• A "quiet" fund-raising campaign is underway for the new athletic facility
• One tennis court has been repurposed for a parking lot, the remaining tennis court to be similarly altered during the summer of 2009.
• A roadway to connect these new lots to an exit will be created in front of the Science Center with traffic dumping onto Rosemont Avenue via Ferndale.
• Talks with the city are underway to address the hazards of the Ferndale/Rosemont intersection with the possible remedy of extended cement curbing into the roadway to route traffic
• Discussions have been held with an outside developer as regards the townhouse dorms sited on Magnolia Avenue
• Pricing information has been gathered pertaining to an artificial surface for the new athletic field
• Consideration has been given to utilization of 7th Street as a point of entry, but the existing curb cuts into campus are not viewed favorably by the city because of hospital traffic
• These items are all included in the Master Plan

It was in my opinion unfortunate that President Volpe's remarks ran so long that there was a woefully inadequate time for questions from attendees. I had to leave the meeting at 9:20 am, without having a chance to ask any questions. I hope that those of you who could attend will take the time to post your own reactions to today's meeting on our blog. That link is hoodneighbors.blogspot.com .

Once we have digested the information from the meeting, we need to decide what our next steps should be. What would you like to see happen? Should we involve the city? Would you utilize a list of telephone numbers to report parking infractions, traffic/speeding concerns, etc? Are you interested in pursuing residential designated parking for your street? Gather your thoughts and share them with your neighbors.