Perhaps the highest profile issue after the East Lake Sammamish Trail to consistently vex the City Council is “barricades.” And most specifically, the “42nd St. barricade” in the Northeast corner of the City that separates the Hidden Ridge and Timberline neighborhoods.

At the March 17 Council meeting, residents from the neighborhoods appeared during the public comment session to support or oppose removing the barricade on 42nd. The public comments sessions begins at the start the meeting, and the testimony is interspersed with comment on other topics.

The Council had some extended discussion toward the end of the meeting, beginning at 1:59 hours into the meeting.

During the council discussion toward the end of the meeting, Don Gerend noted that this had been a topic before the Council for 10 years and promises had been made over and over to resolve the issue. Members Nancy Whitten and Ramiro Valderrama chimed in on a similar vein.

But City Manager Ben Yacizi plead staff shortages to address the issue this year. Among the workload issues Yacizi cited was the pending annexation vote and, if successful, conclusion of the Klahanie Potential Annexation Area.

Council members Tom Odell, Bob Keller, Kathy Huckabay and Mayor Tom Vance said they see putting a process and decision over until next year. Huckabay said it was fine with her if resolution of this issue was put off for two years. The consensus on the Council was for staff to collect the paperwork of the last 10 years. Vance said the discussion would take place in July or more likely September.

This is an instance of promises made and promises broken over 10 years. The Council is content to kick the can down the road instead of dealing with an issue that’s been before them for a decade.