Whatever is said about the safety of the Anthem Parkway/Drive loop, we need to stay focused on the real traffic control and safety issues.  Those few who attended the Henderson Citizens Traffic Advisory Board meeting in City Hall last evening learned that Sun City Anthem’s traffic safety issues are being influenced by individuals who obviously have already decided to recommend that the City Council retain the high speed limits on the road that circumnavigates our senior community.

I apologize in advance for the need for such a long posting.  But, there is so much misinformation and confusion, I am obligated to try to explain the facts.  If you do not want this much info, just ignore it, and accept that many others may benefit from it.

One thing that was made very clear last evening was that many community members (including myself) put “member safety” and “retaining the beautiful and scenic parkway through our community” as our TOP priorities for the future of the “Anthem Parkway/Drive Loop”.  However, the meeting also showed that the long struggle to defend those priorities is at high risk of being lost.

The City, aided and abetted by David Berman’s and Chuck Davis’ sustained aggressive advocacy, is clearly intending to seriously modify the landscaping along the parkway to make the 45-55 mph speed on the Anthem loop a permanent decision.  That would probably eliminate the possibility of this becoming the “golf cart permissible community” that was promised to most homeowners, and has been declared on the Del Webb-erected monument at the entrance to Sun City Anthem.

However, this decision may not yet be over.  There are still many nagging issues flying in the face of making such a major change without more facts.  Moreover, few individuals among the tens of thousands residents of the full Anthem Community have been consulted on this critical safety policy issue.

To illustrate some of these issues, here are just a few of the important items discussed last evening:

- The City’s traffic survey team reported that when no speed limits are enforced, “most drivers” find it “COMFORTABLE” to drive at 45 to 55 mph.  That was no surprise since there is almost no speed enforcement and little knowledge of the high risks involved traversing the blind intersections along the parkway.  This is particularly true for those living in such communities as Anthem Highlands since they problem never use the interchanges between SCA villages and the parkway.  In addition, mechanically measuring vehicle speeds at selected parkway points does not reveal what SCA residents think about the serous dangers of entering, exiting and crossing the parkway (both in vehicles and on foot).

- The survey team declared it will NOT recommend reducing the current 45-55 mph speed limits on any portion of the 7+ miles of the Anthem Parkway/Drive “loop”.. (Note: 55 mph is mentioned because everyone knows that speeding tickets are not issued unless a person exceeds a speed limit by more than 10 mph.)  The rationale to stay at 45-55 is for the “public benefit” and not intended to be for the “Anthem Community benefit”.  As shown below, that may be a seriously misplaced objective as those who are “more comfortable” at the higher speeds are just as likely to be seriously injured from a collision at a blind corner as a slow-moving senior. Such  “comfort” at the higher speed is not based on the facts of the roadway hazzards.

- The team/board admits that the way the “parkway” has been built and maintained it does not safely support more than 35 mph speed.  It was reported that it is very dangerous to drive faster than 35 to 45 mph because cross traffic at almost all intersections is not safe when parkway traffic exceeds 35 mph.

- There was great confusion on whether the “Anthem Parkway/Loop” was designed and approved in the master plan as being intended to be restricted to 35 mph.  The confusion was due in large part to the many steep hills, very sharp curves, massive landscaping in the medians and along the sides of the “parkway”.  These items of designed natural beauty for the parkway also provide clear evidence that Del Webb was not intending for this loop to be a high speed (45 to 55 mph) artery for general commuting.  This beautifully-designed and landscaped “Anthem parkway/drive” was obviously intended to be a “SCA amenity” to support the Anthem “golf-cart-permissible” community lifestyle.  Anthem was designed to FEEL LIKE a special, gated community without requiring the burdens of maintaining gated controls.

- Further evidence that the Anthem loop was not intended to be a general purpose 4-lane “public traffic artery” was revealed when it was reported that the Anthem “loop” was the ONLY “4-lane, divided, public road” in Henderson where the median and side properties were owned/maintained by the community.  WOW!  That would seem to be a BIG deal!  The traffic board/survey members said that all other 45 mph divided roads in Henderson were specifically designed for the higher speeds, and they were owned and maintained by the City.  Further confusion was due to the fact that Del Webb had to have received Henderson City approval before it could declare SCA to be a “golf cart permissible community”.  That designation requires parkway speeds to be set at 35 mph or lower.  Perhaps setting the speed limit to 45 mph for the long-run may even require a master plan change with public comments by all those affected in Anthem–before it is final?

- Evidence was also presented suggesting that much of the traffic increases in the past two years and the current speed-related problems were related to new residents in Anthem Highlands, and adjoining communities to the South and West.  Most of these individuals have to use the parkway to connect to Eastern for their commute to work.  These major community increases were not anticipated in the original design and construction of the Anthem Parkway loop in the late 1990’s.  And, the roads required to support the new communities to allow exit/access to the North and West have not been completed.  Some believe THAT very critical issue needs to be addressed before a permanent conversion of the Anthem loop into a high speed artery is considered.  In the meantime, most (if not all) of the former law enforcement professionals living in SCA believe that a posted 35 mph speed limit and traffic lights at the most dangerous intersections will provide the needed traffic/speed controls–without having to butcher our parkway landscaping and ruin our community style.

- Also confirmed was that the intersections at such places as Thunder Bay, Scotts Valley, Williamsport, and Atchley were examples of VERY dangerous intersections and worthy of high consideration for future traffic light controls.  It was also reported that the DW/Pulte master plan agreement required the company to pay for any future traffic lights.  That might be a good reason why there is so much invisible resistance to the ideas of traffic lights at key intersections. Proposing some cost savings through a slower speed limit may also be a way to motivate Pulte to support our desire to retain Anthem Parkway/Loop as a golf-cart-permissible roadway.  Worthy of consideration?

- It was reported that improving line-of-sight abilities at most intersections may make it safer for those who are “comfortable” driving at high speeds and for those entering and exiting SCA villages along the parkway.  But, no conclusive evidence was presented to show that massive changes to improving line-of-sight barriers will finally solve the dangerous blind intersections problems.  There are just too many steep hills, sharp curves, utility boxes, walls, monument signs, etc. to be able to make it function like the flat terrain of the typical 45 mph roadway.

- The City intends for landscape removal actions to be just a first step, but it was clear that most of the expenses for improving the Anthem loop safety would be BILLED to Anthem residents.  In the meantime, it appeared that a much higher accident and injury rate at the intersections may have to be experienced in order for the City to justify installing new traffic signals at the blind crossings.

- The traffic board/survey team is proposing to City Council that Pulte (that means Anthem residents) pay the high costs of major landscape reductions near the intersections since the Anthem residents own or will eventually own the medians and side landscaping. While some line-of-sight landscape work in the intersection areas has already been done, and more needs to be done, the proposed plan is to wait to consider adding traffic lights ONLY if parkway accidents continued to increase to MUCH higher levels.

David and Roz Berman appeared to be the only ones present from SCA that supported the City’s plans.  Roz said nothing. But, since she does not drive, and she does not believe that SCA Directors should get involved in public policy matters, her lack of action was typical.  Meanwhile, David deceived those in attendance by issuing a prepared statement claiming that “70% of surveyed SCA members” preferred the higher speeds.  That was just plain wrong and totally deceptive. For example, during his statement, David did not report that:

(1) No community-wide, or Anthem-wide survey (affecting tens of thousands of people) has ever been taken on this vital matter.

(2) At least 3,000 new SCA homeowners have moved in since the previous (limited) survey was conducted in 2005.  In other words, David Berman’s survey results contain no representative or statistically significant data in the year 2009.

(3) Many thousands more (of all ages) live in new homes built/occupied in Anthem Solara, Anthem Highlands and in the many other adjacent communities to the West and South. None of those thousands of potentially concerned residents have been informed on the key safety issues involved by driving at high speed across the extremely dangerous intersections along the parkway.  They do not know that it is next to impossible for cross traffic at many blind intersection to see fast, oncoming traffic in time to avoid a collision.

In other words, thousands of Anthem residents are not aware of the very high risks to their lives and property from the slow-moving, slow-reacting senior residents trying to cross the parkway at the blind intersections–without the protections of traffic signals.  And, SCA homeowners are not aware of their potential liability risks if our SCA insurance is insufficient to settle a suit from an unusually serious accident involving the combination of high speeds and blind intersections.  Where the the board has prior knowledge that SCA community property features can increase the risks of accidents, and where the board has failed to act to mitigate those risks, our liabilities could be greatly increased.  We need to act to help reduce the accident risks along our Anthem Parkway through reduced speed limits and new traffic signals at blind intersections.

Conclusion: it was clear at the meeting that David Berman’s obsolete community survey, and his personal opinions, are dangerous paths to follow.  I am one of those who were deceived by his arguments in the past.  But, we have now learned that Mr. Berman’s arguments are not useful for making decisions in 2009. His flawed positions must be soundly rejected in the future.

In the meantime, our community must become better informed and prepared to defend our rights and lifestyles for the future.  Our Board must become far more involved in protecting our community lifestyle.  Traffic safety and community security must be recognized as being far more important to our senior homeowners than being able to drive up to 55 mph on the parkway before being ticketed for speeding.  Even if you prefer to drive 45 mph, a posted 35 mph does not automatically force you to slow down.  I believe that reasonable people can agree that 55 is NOT an acceptable speed on the parkway.

But, regardless of the speed limit solution, we urgently need some type of traffic signals at the most dangerous/blind intersections. I can not accept that just removing landscaping is a viable solution, and I refuse to wait for more of our members get killed or injured before being mobilized to demand approval of the necessary traffic signals.  I hope you will join me in this effort.  It is clear that if more SCA residents do not get engaged in this issue, the original intent and beauty of the Anthem Parkway will be lost, and the traffic dangers to our residents will steadily increase until many more parkway deaths and injuries are experienced.

How about all of you past and present Security Patrol members?  What do you think?  I welcome statements on both sides of this issue–so we can continue to learn and sort out the truth!  <bobfrank@cox.net>

Bob Frank
SCA Director