“ Oh it’s OK, we have a permit and can even park in the middle of the road if we need to." <br />They said, <br />I told them that trucks with trailers went up and down the hill frequently and managed to find parking spots <br />close to their job sites. <br />The guys said that their boss had told them to park there, and asked if I would like to speak to him on the phone. <br />I needed to check on something in the house, <br />so I said that I would be back in a few minutes and yes, I would like to speak to him. <br />When I returned, I was glad to see that they had moved to another location. In the end, the trucks had only <br />parked there for about an hour, but it was a very busy time <br />of the morning when residents were traveling to work and school and many construction trucks were driving up <br />the hill to begin jobs for the day. <br />It was incredible to me to think that they would consider taking up a full lane of traffic below a busy <br />intersection to stage a day and a half long job <br />for a home that was a some distance up the hill. <br />Most of the homes on Spring Boulevard do not have anywhere for visitors to park but on the street. Their <br />driveways are barely long or wide enough for two regular sized cars. <br />These homes, their driveways and access to them was permitted by the City many years ago. It does not appear <br />to me that there is any reasonable way to widen Spring Boulevard. <br />It is inevitable and understandable that these homes will require occasional visits from a vehicle or two <br />(landscape, construction, utility, UPS, etc) that have no alternative <br />but to park on the street. Whether it’s for 5 minutes or five hours, it can create a bottleneck and a potentially <br />dangerous situation. <br />These streets are narrow with virtually no sidewalks. When one of the lanes are blocked, it <br />throws pedestrians, bicyclists and cars out into the oncoming lane of traffic. <br />We have dozens of photos that document this dangerous situation. The fact that there are many blind <br />curves and driveways does not help. <br />That said, I don’t necessarily think that strict no-parking enforcement is the answer, I just don’t believe that it <br />would be at all wise to add to the existing volume of traffic. <br />Most Capital Hill Residents are used to this and know that they need to use caution at all times. We try to be <br />always on our guard and watchful. <br />Most of us can cite close calls that we’ve witnessed or been a part of. <br />We love our neighborhood, and we know that this is how it has to be and is the price that we pay for living in <br />this older, established neighborhood on this particular hill. <br />We’re all very concerned that an increase in all kinds of traffic will lead to a tragic situation. If the Capital Hill <br />not <br />PUD is approved, the construction traffic will be an insignificant <br />or temporary problem for us. It will create an extremely dangerous environment for everyone traveling up and <br />down Capital Drive and Spring Boulevard for many years to come. <br />Thank you, <br />Cathy Johnson <br />PS: Contrary to what Mr. Gillespie says (also on page 387) about there being no crash history on Capital Drive <br />or Spring Boulevard, a reported accident did occur <br />on Friday, September 29, 2017 at 3:34. The case number is 1716513, and I believe that it was briefly mentioned <br />in our Response Document under Criterion 5, page 30. <br />There have been many other incidents resulting in damage to vehicles that are known to us. <br />It truly is a miracle that no one has been seriously injured or killed on these roads over the years. <br />2 <br /> <br />