Q & A with Gary
I get interesting email.
Peoria City Manager Scott Moore sent the following email to members of the Peoria City Council:
Mayor & Council:
Good evening. I wanted to follow up with you to see if you had any legislative items that needed to be added to the proposed list that is being developed. Council member Spain forwarded us a legislative idea regarding State Historic Tax Credit that our State Reps could champion for our community and for the State as well. If you have other legislative proposals that we need to add to the list, please forward them on to me.
Scott
And this is At-large City Council Member Gary Sandberg’s reply:
How about changing state revenue Code so Citizens can’t be overcharged on sales tax or have to “find the pea” if they are overcharged by an indifferent bureaucracy not concerned about excessive taxation. I along with interested over taxed citizens have already discussed this state law modification with Representative Gordan, in as much as local government does not want to move to protect the retail purchaser from excessive sales tax.
I also do NOT SUPPORT the red light running statute expansion until traffic controls are in place that recognize motor vehicles of ALL SIZES THAT PAY MOTOR FUEL TAXES thru fuel purchases, but who currently sit and sit for several cycles because of technology that will not react to their presence so unless the motorist waits until the “hallowed green” appears they are forced to “run a red”. This happens all over the State of Illinois, but in Peoria there are several east/west controllers who facilitate north/south traffic movements AT ALL HOURS OF EVERY DAY, thereby making these “invisible tax paying vehicles” sit for as long as 7 plus minutes waiting to turn left on Sunday mornings. Expand the law when the GREEN LIGHTS work FAIRLY for EVERYONE including small light weight fuel efficient vehicles, not just people traveling in gas guzzling SUVs to Growth Cell 47.
I’ve complained for years about too-long red rights. And the problem is aggravated by the fact that there’s constant road work during.
But this exchange got me thinking: What new laws would YOU like to see enacted?
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
The light at Bourland and Main (going north) is one of these. Sat through 2 cycles waiting for a green with 2 cars behind me. Looked around checking for a cop. None.. fug it… I ran the red. Traffic was light so no one was in danger.
IMO, the traffic light at Columbia Terr and North street should be completely removed and a stop sign for Columbia Terr installed. Traffic flow years ago used to turn right to North then left to Hamilton Blvd but not anymore since the hospital has all but taken away traffic from Hamilton. The other side (East) of Columbia Terr is now a dead end because of the redesign of the Interstate. So in fact, you sit at a red light for almost 2 minutes for a dead end street. This is just one traffic light I could suggest but there are others that are not needed. Like at Glen and Isabel. This exits the Metro Center and I have been told that it is needed to get traffic out of the Metro Center which is bull. The only reason there is traffic congestion at this intersection is because of the light. It backs up traffic both ways on Glen so 2 cars can exit and this light has no timing with Glen and Sheridan nor University and Glen.
How about creating a Traffic Czar, or some other entity that can address these issues? The complete lack of an integrated or coordinated traffic system in Peoria is what makes it so aggravating to try to get through the city. Small wonder why people run red lights in Peoria.
As an alternative, they could just change the city motto: “The traffic lights are redder here.”
At Central & War Memorial (right by Flores Music) I sat at the red light a good 7 minutes because it NEVER CHANGED. The War Memorial lights changed several times from green, to yellow, to red, but mine didn’t. Luckily I was the first car in line because I just ended up taking a right turn onto War drive & then did a U Turn. I was so ticked…talk about road rage!!
How about a new ordinance that restricts any more traffic lights being put up until one is taken down, similar to what is done with billboards(one of garys favorites). These things cost 100’s of thousands to install new, and most of the new installs (see carriage ln, tanglewood, hale ave, etc.) are in places where traffic hasn’t increased in the past… 10 years? All it takes it a whiney northside resident or two to get one of these put up. Metro Centre has a light at both exists, unneccessary. Change the one by dennys to actually change every 2 minutes instead of 5 and get rid of the Isabel light.
Also on traffic lights, would it really be all that hard to get someone to time the dame lights going north-south? It is really frustrating when you drive on University at all, Knoxville close to downtown, Knoxville farther north, and even Sheridan. Terrible.
How about some sort of limits on new shopping malls too? Or some sort of fine for empty big box buildings or % capacity after a certain time (old kroger/fesitval foods, shopko). Eyesores.
And would someone please fix the damn road that runs between Walmart and Dunham sports back towards Landmark? It is right by the public works building and looks like and drives like a minefield.
Oh guys. These traffic lights, the ones with cameras are state of the art traffic sensor systems designed to make traffic flow. Bullshit! I’ll bet there is no one out on Dries Lane that knows how to set one of these computer controlled camera activate lights. Not one. They just plug them in and bam! I can list about 20 un-necessary traffic lights in this stop light happy town. The first one to get the axe? The one on the sough end of the University overpass. Nobody stops there while turning right. Ass bags pull out in front of you all the time and very few go left. A stop sign would do as stopping at Columbia Terr which always turns red seconds after the University light goes green for southbound traffic. No wonder I replace brakes and brake light bulbs every 6 months.
I agree with Em about the stoplights at I-74 and University. They screwed up that whole intersection when they redesigned I-74. There was nothing wrong with the cloverleaf that was there before. Didn’t require any traffic lights and worked just fine. Why “fix” something that wasn’t broken?