By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News
Some residents of The Preserve at Four Points say they see a design flaw with the proposed entrance to Cardinal Point Apartment development, which is being built at the intersection of Four Points Drive and River Place Boulevard near their subdivision.
The issue, they say, is that there is no break in the median on Four Points Drive that would allow Cardinal Point residents who are traveling west on Four Points Drive to turn left into the apartments. Instead, drivers may have to do a U-turn at the intersection of Four Points Drive and Twisted Elm Drive.
Or, they may take a safer bypass route along Twisted Elm Drive through The Preserve at Four Points, which would allow them to turn left at the light at Twisted Elm and Four Points Drive, according to Rich Keith, who lives on Twisted Elm Drive in The Preserve at Four Points.
Keith sent an email to his homeowners association and CalAtlantic Homes, his neighborhood’s developer, in late January about the issue.
“We can foresee not just a few cars, but many dozens of cars each day driving through Phase 1 (of The Preserve),” Keith said in the email. “There will be morning returns after dropping children at school, afternoon returns after picking up children at school, evening returns after work, returns at night, all day and every day of the year.”
Keith said the problem would be made worse because Twisted Elm Drive was built too narrowly.
“It is striped red by the fire department because it is too narrow to park on the street,” Keith said. “Imagine cars coming down this road and whipping around the corner – this will be extremely dangerous to the children outside and to the community traffic of our neighbors.”
While median breaks are not mandatory by the city, interested parties can request one, Keith said. In his email to his HOA, Keith said the HOA should consider requesting a median break. Because his subdivision is new, the HOA is still developer-run.
On Feb. 3, he received a response from Bobby Humphries with Goodwin Management saying that the HOA board had discussed the issue but did not want to get involved.
“The board has reviewed this and has brought (the) issue up with attorney and it is not an issue they are going to pursue,” Humphries said in his email.
When contacted by Four Points News as to why the board did not want to pursue the issue, Humphries said he could not comment further without discussing it with the board.
A spokesperson for Foundation Communities said they could not comment on the issue but that they are currently working with the city.
“We’re working with the city on this issue,” said Alyah Khan, communications coordinator for Foundation Communities. “At this point, it would be premature to comment on what would end up happening there.”
However, a representative with the city said that Foundation Communities has not requested a median cut as part of their site plan.
“The developer has not proposed a median cut for access to their site,” said Amanda Couch, senior planner with the development services department. “We can’t make them do it.”
Couch said that only the developer can request a median cut to be included in the project’s site plan, which means the developer would also be responsible for funding it.
She said that HOAs or other concerned neighborhood groups should call 311 to discuss the project with the area transportation engineer. If the median cut were approved through that route, the cost would be funded by the city.
Couch said that the Cardinal Point site plan has not yet been approved by the city. She said there is no deadline as to when the developer can request a median cut.
Cardinal Point is currently in the planning and design stage and is expected to be completed by 2017.