Glade Road project draws big crowd

A representative of TranSystems, the company that did the study, fielded questions for nearly two hours from residents concerned about trees, cost and the reasons for expanding the road.

"The main reason is, it's falling apart," Bob Lowry, city public works director, told the crowd. "There are many places where pavement is only two inches thick. The fact that it needs to be reconstructed provides an opportunity to address areas that experience significant traffic congestion."

TranSystems' Chad Gartner showed residents three options: two lanes with a continuous left turn lane; two lanes with left turn lanes where needed; and two lanes with medians and left turn lanes.

Resident Bobby Lindmood, who lives along Glade and put up signs protesting the widening, said he doesn't want any of those options.

"We want the road improved as far as fixing the deterioration," he said, but he and other neighbors don't want any widening or other work.

Many of the residents who spoke were unhappy because they have trouble getting onto Glade Road from their subdivisions. The widening is not likely to fix that problem, said Gartner. He said adding signals to those areas would just back up traffic further on Glade.

TranSystems distributed comment cards at the meeting, and will continue to take public input on the website www.gladeroadproject.com until Dec. 18.

"Public input is vital to the success of this project," Gartner told the audience.

The City Council will have the final say.