Sheri_Pat Clancy Letter re: JFK Sidewalks
Dear Mayor Buol, Ms. Braig, Ms. Michalski, Mr. Jones, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Connors and Ms. Cline:
I am writing as a very concerned property owner on the JFK Rd and Marywood Dr
sidewalk issue. Our family has lived at 2691 Marywood Dr for 16 years this past May. We live
right on the corner of Marywood past the crest of the hill towards Eisenhower school. In 1999
when the sidewalk issue came up and was defeated 100% it was considered by us in the
neighborhood to be a done deal. The petition that was signed by the 75 interested needs to be
looked at closer. I have viewed the petition and there are signatures from many various areas of
the City and not many from our area being affected by this issue at all. Eisenhower school kids
that walk to Eisenhower (and I had 3 myself) do not walk down JFK Rd past our house. It is toc
dangerous on the hill and there aren't any kids that walk on our side of JFK to get there. The
school kids that live in Kennedy Manor on the opposite side of JFK Rd walk on the sidewalk on
Sunset Park and cross at the crosswalk on JFK and walk up the hill to the playground at
Eisenhower. The kids in the Marywood neighborhood always walked down Marywood Dr and
took the Crissy Trail to the back of the school which is a paved path.
We do have a Keyline bus stop at the crest of JFK Rd which doesn't get traveled a great
deal by anyone in our neighborhood. There is a group home on Marywood and an occasional
person will walk up to catch the bus. I have seen them walking up Crissy Dr and catching a bus
on Kaufmann more frequently than they walk past our property to catch the bus or continuing to
walk up Crissy to Asbury Rd.
My husband has had 3 back surgeries since we moved in our house. In the winter we
can't maintain the corner as the snow plows fly over the hill and around the corner burying us in
snow and slush. We have a fence on the property that gets covered when they plow JFK Rd.
There would be NO WAY we could keep the sidewalk cleared off. When the work was done on
JFK Rd prior to our purchasing the property in 1991 the City didn't backfill or fix the grade on
the area outside our fence. We treat the area outside the fence as we do our lawn by fertilizing
and weed and feeding it but not much grows outside the fence area. We can't keep grass growing
on it as it gets all the chemicals from the road clearing pushed up on it. It is also very uneven and
slopes towards the fence.
It would be very much a financial burden to our family if this sidewalk was to be put in
besides the fact that we would not be able to properly maintain it in the winter. We have a deep
lot from the corner of Marywood to the top of the hill (156 feet) and it would be very expensive
to have to pay to put a sidewalk there ourselves and more of a hardship if the City did it because
the cost would be even more.
Please research this issue more and please reconsider the need for a sidewalk on JFK Rd.
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Sincerely,
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Sheri & Pat Clancy
2691 Marywood Dr
Dubuque, IA 52001
563-543-4601