Please remember that there is a second public information session tonight (Monday) about Verona Rd/West Beltline. This one will be at the Boys and Girls club gymnasium, 4705 Jenewein Road. The meeting will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. (That's in the Allied Dr area, for those not familiar with the street address.)
The current plan, at least what the DOT presented to a city committee within the last 2 months, is to do "interim improvements," and then put off building the mega-freeway for a longer period of time. The "interim improvements" include a jug-handle intersection at Verona Rd & Summit (the street you use to enter Home Depot or Walgreens on the other side.) I am concerned about bicycle access with this arrangement, as it looks to me like there are some pretty high-speed maneuvers allowed, and not much opportunity to safely mix bikes and cars. But maybe I'm wrong. Another aspect that Bikies should note is that there is a plan to add a street under Verona Rd where the SW Path currently exists. The SW Path would become essentially a side-path, although since there are few road and driveway crossings, it might not be as unsafe as a normal sidepath. However, I am worried about turning a previously pleasant multi-use path corridor into another Home Depot/Cub Foods/Staples access. This new road would also it much more difficult to reestablish rail in the corridor at some point in the future. One of the advantages of rail-to-trail conversions is that they preserve these corridors if rail is deemed desirable in the future. Especially if that rail is a light rail or electric, rail-with-trail - a rail line with a trail running next to it - should be possible. Seeing as how this corridor links Verona with the campus and downtown, I think it would be a very poor decision to lose that option. Robbie
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