INC NEWS - Duke's Ped Plan is greatly lacking...

[John Schelp]

folks,

Duke recently hired PR firms to train university
officials to shift the focus away from problems that
hurt the school's image.

Who knew this training would dip down to the level of
campus sidewalks?

It's bothersome when Duke's PR office posts
distractions on listservs to shift the focus away from
the fact that the university submitted a Pedestrian
Plan that is woefully inadequate. 

Even Frank Duke said off-line that he sees gaps in the
plan on a number of streets. Durham's Bike & Ped
Commission is also working on a long list of
improvements to the university's plan.

For the record... yesterday, I asked Duke's Michael
Palmer to consider a paved walkway INSIDE the wall,
alongside the jogging trail (with pedestrian entrances
at each corner).

I did not ask Mr. Palmer for "a conventional paved
sidewalk around Duke's East Campus." 

To imply that I did -- and then say it's impossible to
 build a conventional sidewalk (that I didn't even ask
for) is, quite simply, misleading. 

(Hopefully our friends can now stop spinning the issue
to imply that we have a stark choice between trees and
sidewalks.)

>From what I understand, a number of City staff do not
agree with Frank's interpretation of the ordinance on
the sidewalks and alternate walkways -- and that's
also playing a role here.

I look forward to the day when people in Duke's PR
office work for solutions that will help make students
and neighbors safer -- instead of posting other
people's emails that only serve to distract from the
core problem (ie. that Duke submitted a woefully
inadequate Pedestrian Plan).

Yesterday, I asked Michael Palmer to consider
resubmitting Duke's Pedestrian Plan with more
sidewalk/connectivity improvements. 

I look forward to hearing what the head of Duke
Community Affairs has to say.

~John

> Frank Duke wrote:
>
> If Duke elects to propose a different alternative,
we can get that, but only if Duke agrees to that
alternative.

Yep, that's why the university was asked to build a
paved pedestrian walkway around East Campus (inside
the wall) with 5 foot-wide pedestrian entrances at
each corner.

This solution saves the trees and provides the
sidewalk.

The ball is in Duke's court. We'll see what they say
about connectivity.

Of course, emails from a local official saying Duke
can get a pass on pedestrian walkways around East
Campus might give Duke the cover it needs to say no.

What's important to remember here is that Duke
submitted a Pedestrian Plan that is woefully
inadequate and needs improvements in several areas.

We'll see what Duke does.

~John