North Ogden- Citizen after citizen stood during the public comment portion of the January 22nd City Council meeting. More than 15 residents voiced concerns regarding the city's plans to eventually finish the long-planned Monroe Blvd. The city administration is trying to look ahead and plan road improvements and developments that will prepare the city for increasing traffic as the city continues to grow. The population in North Ogden has almost quadrupled in the last 40 years to arrive at the current 17,357 residents.
Numerous citizens, including Council Member Wade Bigler, who live on or near the planned Boulevard expressed great apprehensions including concerns that the road would run next to 2 elementary schools raising safety concerns. When asked, Mayor Harris stated that the speed limit would probably be around 40 mph. Others shared their fears that crime rates would dramatically increase if a major road created "a direct corridor from Ogden into the very heart of North Ogden City." Some expressed anxiety over property values decreasing, and the difficulty in selling a home on a major road. One property owner was unhappy that his property would be completely eaten up by the 80-ft. wide road, which would include the sidewalk, park strip, curb and gutter, and 3-5 lanes.
The question was put forth time and again, "Will this even alleviate the problem?" It was pointed out that there are no businesses, or real destinations on Monroe in North Ogden or Ogden, so eventually everyone would have to turn to Harrison or Washington Blvd. anyhow to get where they were going. One last thought expressed was that if there were to be new lights added, which Mayor Harris confirmed would likely be the case, it would create new bottlenecks on current East/West roads like 2100 N., 2600 N., 3100 N., etc.
Mayor Harris reiterated that the plans to finish the Blvd. aren't likely to come about for many years still, but the idea is to start using some $2Million in grant money awarded for the project to begin buying up the land from residents. Even with this understanding around 40 residents clapped several times for their neighbors, expressing their agreement with the concerns expressed at the microphone throughout the discussion, especially when the idea of looking at other options was put forth.
