JFK Sidewalk Installation_Robert L ynn CorrespondencePage 1 of 2
Jeanne Schneider -Sidewalk installation on JFK Rd.
From: <RFLYNN314@aol.com>
To: <rdbuol@cityofdubuque.org>
Date: 12/12/2007 11:12 PM
Subject: Sidewalk installation on JFK Rd.
CC: <amichalski@cityofdubuque.org>, <rjones@cityofdubuque.org>, <klynch@cityofdubuque.org>,
<kbraig@cityofdubuque.org>, <jconnors63@mchsi.com>, <pcline@cityofdubuge.org>,
<blynn@dbeco.org>
To: Mayor Roy Buol and Dubuque City Council members
From: Robert Lynn 2381 Gordon Dr.
Ref: Sidewalk installation on JFK
I will not be attending the December 17th meeting where discussion will take place regarding the
installation of sidewalks along JFK Rd. from Asbury Rd. to the Northwest Arterial. Please take a few minutes to
read this letter so that my opinion on the matter can be heard.
I reside at 2381 Gordon Dr. with my wife and 3 children and have been here since 1989. I know all my
neighbors on Gordon Dr. and share their concerns with this project. I am against the installation of a sidewalk as
it is not needed and will only cause a burden on those of us who live here.
I want to point out a petition in favor of the project that was presented to you. This petiton was presented
to parents who were attending an Eisenhower School function. One name on this petition is Kim Meyer of
Gordon Dr. Kim will tell you that she signed this petiton because it was placed in front of her while she was
signing other documents pertaiing to her children, that it was a hectic situation with children all about so she just
signed whatever was given to her. Kim Meyer is against the sidewalk installation. Although she lives on the
unaffected side of Gordon Dr., her mother lives on the affected side of Gordon Dr. and there is no way Kim
whould have ever signed anything in favor of this sidewalk that would affect her mother. Kim's mother is a
widowed senior citizen who lives alone. A large percentage of the other names on this petition are from parents
who do not live anywhere near Eisenhower school. They documented their address's from areas around the Kelly
Lane/ Fremont area. How does this project affect them? Their children will never walk to or from school and only
goes to prove that this petition is tainted and should be disregarded.
Let me ensure you that their are no children who walk along JFK to get to school. Those children who live
in the Gordon Dr./Crissy Dr. area use the trail that runs off of Crissy Dr. Our children all attended Eisenhower and
never even considered it. Traffic is hectic at the intersection of Kaufmann and JFK and is a dangerous place for
any walker, with or without a sidewalk. As for the children in the KimberlylWaller St. area, they walk along Waller
to Sunset Circle and use the teacher attended crosswalk.
I have heard comments that bike riders need a sidewalk to get to the new bike trail that runs along the
Arterial. That is nonsense. The only people that are going to do this are experienced long distance bike riders
and they will use the street, as they always do. Children and leisure riders are not going on such a ride, consider
the hilly terrain.
The sidewalk section running along Gordon Dr. deserves some serious consideration above all. I hope
that you have all taken the time to look over the area and the demands it would put on the homeowners. If
so, you are aware that is impossible to reach the sidewalk section from the backyards. That it is unreasonable to
ask us to maintain such a walk in the winter nor is there any good way of doing it. Public safety is a concern, and
the public in this matter is us. I have paid close attention to the snow plows this month and noticed that when
they go down JFK the majority of the snow coming off of the blade is landing exactly where this sidewalk will be.
It would be a never ending nightmare to keep the walks clean during the winter.
During the spring/summer season there are a few people who walk along this portion of JFK. Not many,
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but some. I have noticed that most of them use the sidewalk that currently exists on the opposite side of JFK.
Those that walk on the Gordon Dr. side do so because they want to. This area is always kept clean and well
mowed. If they truly had a problem with walking on grass I suspect they would use the sidewalk on the other
side.
If I don't need something, I don't purchase it. That is what is being asked of us. There is no need for a
sidewalk along JFK, especially the Gordon Dr. area. Maybe somebody wants it, but there is no need for it and the
cost does not justify the want. Common sense comes into play here, weigh the good vs the bad, the cost and
hardship, and the fact that there is already a sidewalk behind Gordon Dr. for those who want to use it.
I do hope that whoever it is that wants this project also voices his or her opinion to you because I would
love to know why it is needed so badly.
Sincerly
Robert F. Lynn
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