There is hardly a stronger symbol of division than a barricade across a street, dividing one neighbor from another.

There are more than 30 such barricades on streets around Sammamish.

Some of them lie dormant, in quiet dead ends and cul-de-sacs, just a part of the scenery and of no consequence to the people who live there.

But others have great impacts on the way some residents live — on the length of their daily commute, on the character of their streets and neighborhoods, and on the safety of their children.

The announcement that the City of Sammamish would investigate whether some of these barricades were impediments to traffic connectivity struck a collective chord in a number of areas around the Plateau, residents of which felt that opening their streets to through traffic would “destroy neighborhoods.”

There are also residents who hope for the removal of some barricades, feeling that they are an impediment to travel and a safety concern in their own right.

City staff, officials and connectivity consultant Dan Burden heard from both of these groups during a bus tour of seven barricades around the Plateau on Tuesday.

Prior to the tour, City Engineer Laura Philpot made it clear to those assembled that the city would not be making any decision about the barricades immediately.

“What we are focused on is kick-starting the connectivity discussion,” she said. “We are not looking at solutions right now. We want to make sure staff and the consultants see and hear from some of the citizens affected.”

However, despite the assurances of officials that they are at this point just collecting information, many of the residents who gathered to meet the bus tour at barricades around the city appeared under the impression that deals had already been done, beginning comments with “you want to take the barricades down but…”

Whether or not this is the result of misinformation, or a lack of faith in the processes of the city, remains to be seen. What is clear already is that passions have been ignited.

In one neighborhood on the south-east corner of Beaver Lake the streets were lined with “Reject the Connect” signs.

About 30 residents gathered, some bearing placards of their own, which said “Let the Barricade Be,” and “Save our Neighborhood.”

There, planners heard that speeding traffic was already a major problem for residents, and opening up the barricade, which at the moment prevents traffic from the Trossachs neighborhood connecting with Beaver Lake Drive, would exacerbate the problem.

Listening to concerns about current traffic speeds and pedestrian safety, Burden said “it sounds like we need a solution to a problem that already exists.”

Burden added that the design features of many of the streets in Sammamish encouraged speeding.

But even amongst residents for the same cause, there is some disagreement.

“They need to upgrade around the lake first,” said Sandy Cartmell, adding that she had nearly been hit by cars while walking.

Resident Al Jokisch interjected.

“Widening the road will not do any good,” he said. “Once they open the barricades, they’ll open the flood gates.”

A number of residents commented that teenage drivers were often the speeding culprits, and that opening the connection would encourage through traffic from Trossachs to local high schools.

“This is a special area,” said one resident. “Putting a thoroughfare through here is not a good idea.”

On the other side of the Plateau, in the Timberline neighborhood, residents did their best in the blazing heat to keep emotions in check, as they gathered around a barricade on North East 42nd Way.

The barricade there prevents direct passage from the Timberline neighborhood through 192 Drive Northeast to Redmond, a fact which some residents say is a great inconvenience, even a safety hazard.

On the other side of the divide are those residents who feel that encouraging traffic on the very steep streets would lead quickly to disaster.

One resident said that when she bought her house on North East 42nd Way she was under the impression that the connecting road would remain closed.

The young mother, whose children play in a park adjacent to the street, said that if the barricades were removed she would consider putting her house on the market and moving out of Sammamish.

“Is it worth destroying this neighborhood to shave four minutes off my commute?” said one resident. “I would say unequivocally no. I don’t want to live in a community that would sacrifice safety for convenience.”

But these ideas of community and road safety are more complex, according to Fabian De La Espriella, an urban designer on Burden’s consultancy team.

“While they are talking about sacrificing safety for convenience, for residents to keep using an indirect route they are then traveling through three or four other intersections, and adding to traffic elsewhere, which impacts on safety there,” he said. “It is just passing along the impact. The impact of these cul-de-sacs gets put onto another road, and then another. There is always one road that is getting fatter and meaner and more hostile, because of these cul-de-sacs around the city.”

This idea of sharing the burden of city traffic might not be one that some residents will want to hear, but it is one that will be debated at a number of public meetings on the barricade issue in the fall. A debrief of the bus tour was held Thursday, after The Reporter’s Wednesday deadline.