There is a motion before the Valparaiso City Council to extend Vale Park to connect Valparaiso Street and Campbell and beyond. Valparasio currently has few major east-west connecting roads. Drivers that need to get from Calumet to Campbell generally drive through residential neighborhoods. While some drivers are cautious, a fair number of drivers do not take the speed limit into account and often go 50 MPH in an area marked for 25 MPH. There have been multiple instances of drivers passing buses with flashing lights unloading children. The extension would lighten the high traffic of neighborhoods that adjoin Appletree Lane and other parallel neighborhood streets. A bulk of the traffic experienced in these neighborhoods can be attributed to Valparaiso High School students. Extending Vale Park not only helps correct a safety issue, but also has the side effect of increasing the economic viability of our community. With more east-west connecting streets, more businesses can be developed on the west side of town, more adjoining properties can be annexed to grow the tax base, and it may make shopping center revitalization such as County Seat more of a reality. By signing this petition, I agree that extension of Vale Park makes sense from both safety and economic perspectives. I believe that the City Council should fully examine the safety and economic aspects of the extension, while at the same time making it usable for multiple constituencies. I also believe that the best solution for Valpo is the one that enhances services to the maximum number of citizens. This petition seeks to identify citizens that are in favor of extending Vale Park while not making any final recommendations about the design of the extension.

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