By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Hays city commissioners will meet in a special session tonight at 6 p.m. to discuss the restriping of Canterbury Drive.
As part of the 2018 Street Maintenance plan approved by the commission last year, Canterbury between 13th and 22nd Streets has just undergone diamond grinding to make the pavement smoother. It is scheduled to be restriped Monday, May 7, from the current four lane configuration to three lanes, with the middle lane dedicated to left turns.
Other areas in Hays have been changed from four lanes to three lanes, including portions of 8th, 13th, 27th and Hall Streets. Numerous national and state traffic studies as well as those by city staff and the Hays Police Department have determined there are fewer vehicle accidents on three-lane roads and traffic moves more quickly.
At last week’s meeting Mayor James Meier noted commissioners have recently received a number of complaints from some residents opposed to the three lane configuration and asked if the commission should “rethink it.”
Meier first laid out the steps in the commission Rules and Procedures which would have to be followed to change the contract.
Commissioner Shaun Musil has continued to favor four lanes. “I think the community would like us to keep it that way,” he said Thursday. He offered the motion to suspend a portion of the Rules and Procedures requiring a super majority vote to amend the contract.
After some discussion, the motion failed unanimously.
Vice-Mayor Henry Schwaller had vehemently opposed the notion. “I have to choose my words very carefully. You may be down a commissioner,” Schwaller said. “You’re repealing something that’s been in effect for many years for a reason.” He noted there was no city staff present to answer questions about the restriping. “I don’t think that’s a good precedent and I do not wish to serve with a commission that makes decisions hastily.”
“I don’t think we’re doing this in haste,” countered Commissioner Sandy Jacobs who seconded Musil’s motion. “We voted (Jan. 8) on section 8.1 in Rules and Procedures saying things can get suspended but I don’t like asking for the suspension.”
“I’ve had more calls on this than any other subject, which surprises me. We’ve talked about this in the past. I don’t care if the lanes are striped four lanes or three lanes.”
“I don’t think this issue is worth executing the Rules and Procedures suspension,” said Commissioner Chris Dinkel.
He also wondered if it made sense to go back on staff recommendation for the three lanes and “make a snap decision.”
“We hear from people because people hate change,” Dinkel said. “We’ve discussed much bigger issues in this commission which have gotten much less play just because they don’t affect people’s daily lives.”
Mayor Meier questioned City Manager Toby Dougherty if the striping contractor could be asked to hold off on the project until after the commission’s next regular meeting on May 10.
“Yeah,” Dougherty answered. “But a lot of this is based off timing, so it may cost the city money. The contractor may agree to wait and go do another job first, but he’ll have to remobilize and fit our project into another slot,” he explained..
Commissioners also talked about the possibility of calling a special meeting to further discuss the restriping rather than using a Rules suspension Thursday night.
Late Friday afternoon, the city sent a notice to news media that a special session will be held Tue., May 1 “to discuss the lane configuration on Canterbury Drive.”