The following statement has been submitted to the Public Safety Committee with a request that it is discussed at their next meeting on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. at Daphne City Hall Council Chambers…

The Daphne #4 Fire Station is situated at the end of Green Court and the parking lot has exits to both Green Court and Woodrow lane.  This allows the fire truck to exit the station via Woodrow Lane to have easy access to 181 and I-10 whilst also allowing it to use Green Court if the incident is in the TimberCreek sub division.  Both sides are clearly marked with "No Through Street" signs as can be seen in the pictures below.  (The pictures are not of the best quality as they are taken from Google Maps; ironically the Google Map Car must have driven through the "No Through Street").

There used to be a barrier across the Green Court exit but this has been removed and now members of the public use the parking lot as a cut through to get to McDonalds and to avoid the traffic lights at the junction of TimberCreek Boulevard and highway 181.  Although I haven't seen it myself, my neighbors also say that young drivers use it to race each other as it completes a mile long circuit around Green Court, TimberCreek Boulevard and Woodrow Lane.
 
Within the last couple of months a young woman was knocked off her bike by a car coming too fast out of the parking lot and I myself blocked a driver from cutting through just last week.
 
There is a real danger that there will be more accidents and if one of these involved the fire truck itself then other lives would be put at risk.
 
Woodrow Lane is maintained by Baldwin County and I have approached them about the issue but to date all they have done is put no parking signs at the West end of Woodrow Lane to try and deter people partying in their cars at night; this issue is at the East end of the lane and clearly the "No Through Street" signs are having no effect.
 
Ideally I would like to see Woodrow Lane annexed in to the City of Daphne so that the City can control all the issues but for the time being I would like to request the Public Safety Committee review my concerns and suggest a solution to the City Council.