Posted by Tony Redington
The
Parkway design now set for construction actually features not a single
inch of quality
walkable/bikable or even high safety drivable roadway.
Against the City’s walk bike council
advisory developed over six months
and delivered to Mayor Weinburger in December, not a
single
recommendation can be found in the design–no separate walkway and
bicycle
facilities to assure safety, and not a single roundabout to
assure safety for each mode at
busy intersections. And, the lack of
connectivity from Pine St. to points south using a
roundabout gets
shelved. A “Happy Days” 1950s design prevails for the Parkway which
guarantees decades of relative desolation and commercial blight for the
South End. Most
important will be the needless serious injuries and a
fatal or two over the life of the project
which quality design prevents.
Clearly the design represents an indelible black mark for the
VTrans
leadership of Secretary Minter and Mayor Weinberger whose administrators
continue to mislead the community about this wolf in sheep’s clothing.
One merely lays the
landmark 2.8 mile North Avenue Corridor plan adopted
last October against the Parkway to
see the obvious fatal flaws in the
South End project.
