Is this any way to build roads? Designed for SPEED - with a path emerging from a public park directly onto to a blind curve?
You can't fault the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) reflex that is present in the average person. It's just human nature. The starkness of that reflex can still be disconcerting; it was manifested at this past Tuesday's special Common Council meeting immediately following discussion of the controversial 51st street widening north of Rawson. The room virtually emptied once it became clear that the issue had been put to rest.
Next on the agenda: How to address 51st street in front of Franklin High School. The room emptied before that topic got underway.
It's not your backyard. Just your children.
Still, it was heartening to hear a common thread in citizen's comments (and then echoed by council members): Franklin needs to reassess its priorities and start making this city accessible to people rather than simply vehicles. Unfortunately, the stimulus application is limited to work on collector-level streets, and the collector-level streets here are already past redemption: wide and speed-inducing, there is no room for adding a proper, segregated bike and pedestrian lane without acquiring land, which also disallows a stimulus application.
The feared and despised four-lane possibility on 51st north of Rawson was also disallowed, making the mayor's veto of that project moot. Nonetheless, there was a vote on sustaining the veto - - which two aldermen chose inexplicably to vote against.
Sometimes logic is left at the door of common council meetings.
Chosen instead for inclusion in the stimulus application is the stretch of 51st street in front of Franklin High School, site of many, many crashes and a tragic pedestrian fatality a few years back.
Sidewalks? Maybe.
More later, including further discussion of atrocities like the residential street pictured above .....
Council upholds 51st Street veto - FranklinNOW.
See a street become sane and safe right before your eyes
This is just a great look at how streets CAN be once we start changing bad habits. Be sure to click the interactive graphic here (photo above is a screenshot).
(Via GOOD Magazine)
Posted at 12:19 PM in Bicycling and Walking, Commentary, Good news, Recommended site, Traffic/Transportation, Wisdom | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
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