Boone residents expressed
growing concerns about increased traffic violations occurring on
Stadium Drive and the Boone Town Council meeting last week.
Residents of both Stadium Drive and Dogwood Road, which connects
NC Highway 105 to Stadium Drive, asked for more police patrol of
the neighborhood.
Residents complained of an increasing number of reckless and intoxicated
drivers, speeders and accidents occurring in the neighborhood and
cited Appalachian State University students as the main perpetrators
of such behavior.
Solutions sought included more speed bumps to slow drivers down,
but ultimately the plea was for more police involvement.
“I like to go running in the neighborhood, and I can’t
anymore with all the traffic problems we have on these roads,”
Boone Town Council member Lynne Mason said.
“We are waiting on a traffic study of the entire town before
we hold a public meeting sometime in November to discuss possible
solutions to the problem,” Mason said.
According to Boone Police Chief Bill Post, the construction of University
Highlands is a big part of the increased traffic flow.
“Students from the Highlands have found it quicker to cut through
Dogwood and Stadium Drive from N.C. 105 rather than go all the way
around campus,” Post said.
Post said letters would be sent to University Highlands residents
asking them to slow down, ride the AppalCART or stay on roads with
a higher volume of traffic.
In response to residents citing mostly students as the problem to
said traffic, Post said this was not a major concern for the police
department.
“We’d hate to target ASU students, and we feel that there
are other areas of town that need more attention in regard to traffic,”
Post said. “A lot of the time we have noticed that students
are running late to class or activities and just use this route
as a shortcut.”
“But we do understand the residents concerns and we have and
will continue to increase traffic patrol from Stadium Drive to N.C.
105,” Post said.
Post said there have been over 1,700 automobile accidents during
the last 21 months in Boone. Only five of those accidents occurred
in the area of concern.
“We do patrol traffic on Stadium Drive, but only to where the
university property ends at the football stadium,” ASU Police
Chief Gunther Doerr said. “We would only travel into these
neighborhoods if pursuing a violation that occurred on campus.”
Post said there has not been a significant increase in violations
or accidents in these neighborhoods, only complaints from residents.
“I feel bad that this has been made strictly a police problem,”
he said. |
