Several residents of an area northeast of Urbana opposed extending and expanding roadways in their neighborhood, including a ring road around the outside of the city, during Monday’s Urbana City Council meeting.

Bill Bagby, a resident of the area affected by the road proposal, praised most of Urbana’s proposed comprehensive plan, which guides future development in the city. However, he said the proposals for the new roadways are in “direct conflict with almost every goal of this comprehensive plan.”

Bagby said R.U.R.A.L., a group that advocates preserving rural land, had collected more than 300 signatures in just four days in opposition to the construction of the roadways.

George Boyd, who is also a resident in the neighborhood, said that extending the roads would lead to development on the outskirts of the city instead of downtown, where the business is needed. He also said safety and traffic would become problems because development would rout semitrucks through the area.

It was unfair that the city had worked on the plan for several years and residents only learned about it three weeks ago, he said.

“(The City Council) is trying to ramrod this through,” he said.

Alderman Chris Alix, who was part of the commission that worked on the plan for several years, said while he understood Boyd’s concerns he did not think construction of the roadways would be necessary for several years. He said the plan was designed to provide a long-term outlook.

Boyd, though, said he and the others who signed the petition did not want to see any expansion of the roads.

There will be a meeting for public input into the plan tonight at 7 at the Urbana Civic Center, 108 E. Water St.

The Council also considered an ordinance that would make it more difficult to set up commercial parking lots in residential areas. The vote came after press time.

Residents of West Urbana supported the measure but pushed for further restrictions.

“The conversion of a home to a parking lot, commercial or otherwise, is terrible for a neighborhood,” said West Urbana Neighborhood Association co-coordinator Lisa Treul.

“It’s lights and it’s noise and it’s pollution and it’s ugly,” said neighborhood resident Linda Lorenz.