John Rocker asks:
So, what are the chances of re-engineering this
project to eliminate
the
fly-over, maintain a more livable scale, and still
provide access to
Lake?
(JC) Mr. Rocker asks exactly the right question. The
flyover ramp is superfluous and should be scrapped.
No one in the room at the fifth precinct last Saturday
spoke favorably about the flyover. Supporters of the
project pointed only to easier access to Lake Street.
Those supporters should be enraged at the project
managers for overstepping the bounds of Access and
incorporating this destructive flyover.
The flyover necesitates demolition of 17 affordable
housing units, a scandal in and of itself.
Moreover, access to 28th street jeopardizes a
longstanding need to calm traffic on that treacherous
one-way. Currently, 26th and 28th are four-lane
mini-freeways, death-traps for pedestrians and bikers.
The money saved by not building the flyover should be
spent creating a opposite-direction bus lane on 26th
Street with a new route connecting light rail and
Hi-Lake to Uptown via 26th Street. Both 26th and 28th
should remain one-way with two car lanes, bike lanes,
and a green ribbon separating the sidewalk from
traffic. These ideas, though popular in Phillips and
Whittier, have been trumped by traffic engineers for
years. The flyover is the latest demonstration of
poor transportation priorities in the area.
Unless Smith Parker and friends address these
concerns, the project is likely doomed. A shame for
those on Lake who like the idea of better access.
Jeff Carlson, Whittier
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