Review of Saundersville Station
Saundersville Station: Frank Bowyer reporting
I met with Duane Allen, Assistant City Engineer (not the Oak Ridge Boy), to clarify the proper road widths for different classifications of streets in the subdivision regulations. It turns out that the Cannon's Crossing exceeds the requirement. The table shows that the road must be 24 feet wide; each lane is currently 20 feet wide. I was thinking that the lanes were 4 feet too narrow, but in reality, the 24 feet requirement means "both lanes"; therefore, each lane is only required to be 12 feet wide. Duane actually made Southeastern add and additional 8 feet in each lane since the lanes are divided by an island or esplanade. This extra 8 feet will allow a fire truck to get by a parked car on the street. If the lane were only 12 feet as required by law, a fire truck would have difficulty passing a parked car on this type of street. Interestingly, Duane hit a point that I don't think he realized needs to be addressed; the rules for subdivisions need to be re-written to allow for a wider lane in situations where the street is divided by an esplanade or median. When I look at the front entrance to my subdivision, there is barely enough room for a fire truck to get through without a car parked on the street as the street is only 12 feet wide, per the regulation. If a car were parked on the street, it would cause a serious delay in getting emergency equipment to my home in case of a fire or any other type of emergency, such as a drowning at our neighborhood pool.
Further discussions with Duane revealed that the traffic patterns on Saundersville Road are currently not an issue. This was mentioned when I brought up the issue of accessibility to the proposed greenway on the Old Lower Station Camp Creek Rd. Since the New Big Station Camp Creek Rd was built, it is seen as a diversion of traffic from Saundersville Rd to Gallatin Rd and eventually Hwy 386. They don't view schools as traffic attractors. I disagreed with that concept as there is always something going on at Station Camp Creek HS which attracts a lot of traffic on the weekends and weekday evenings. However, Duane stated further that if the big shopping center that's slated to go in across the new Sta Cmp Crk Rd from the schools goes in, then the city will have to definitely readdress the traffic situation on Saundersville Rd. Even something as simple as a convenience store will cause the city to do another traffic study since a convenience store will attract traffic from all directions. I expressed concern over the possibility that Saundersville Rd., Anderson Rd., Jenkins Rd. and Jones Rd. would be encroached upon by new development long before the shopping centers were built causing those roads to be studied and approved for widening too late after the developments are built. For example, Autumn Creek has a fence within 10-15 feet of Anderson Road; in my opinion, that's too close to allow future expansion of that road. Duane seems to be sensitive to these issues and assured me that he would like to see more spacious roads but his hands are tied until the traffic studies warrant them.
After my meeting with Duane, I called Jamie Clary to discuss the outcome of that meeting. I advised Jamie that I would not be attending the Planning Commission meeting that evening as there really is nothing on the Saundersville Station plats that can be challenged at this point. The master plan has been approved, so it would be useless to argue for changes to the master plan. I discussed the idea below of changing the ordinance to require shoulders on roads classified as "lane" and above. I believe a 4 ft shoulder is adequate to provide space for drivers and pedestrians, provide a place to pull over if needed and to eliminate erosion along the side of the road (look at the lower portion of Saundersville Rd where the dump trucks and erosion has torn up the side of the road). The city is struggling with a curb/gutter regulation and I feel that curb/gutters are an eyesore. They collect garbage for one thing and I'd be willing to bet that they are more expensive than an extra 4 ft of pavement. Jamie agreed and also commented that he hates riding next to curbs, to which I agreed.
Jamie suggested that I study the regulations and find a place to insert the new regulation. I will practically have to re-write the rule and present it to Jamie for review. After the final product is acceptable, then it would be presented to the Board for consideration. I will most likely address the issue mentioned earlier concerning divided roads as well as that is a huge safety issue. I will take the next couple of weeks to review the codes/rules and will draft the new rules for submission with the same intention as drawn out in paragraph one in my e-mail below. I'll keep you posted and will copy you on any draft submission.
Frank P. Bowyer, IV
