[Durham INC] Fwd: Alston Ave on City Council agenda today

[Golden Belt Historic District]

FYI.....

 City Council discussed the Alston Ave road today at their 1pm work session.
>From their agenda (http://www.ci.durham.nc.us/agendas/2011/cws_031011.cfm):
14. U-3308 Alston Avenue Widening
To support North Carolina Department of Transportation’s proposal to proceed
with construction of U-3308, Alston Avenue Widening, using the revised
alignment, preserving the Los Primos grocery store and widening more on the
east-side of the roadway; and

To request North Carolina Department of Transportation to initially stripe
one through lane in each direction, bicycle lanes, and parking on both sides
of the street until additional roadway capacity is necessary.

(Resource Person: Ellen Beckmann – 4366 ext. 36412) (Attachment #14 – 7
pages) (PR# 7617) [I've attached this to the email]


Here's an article from yesterday's Herald Sun. Chuck Watt's is quoted
extensively and personally does not support the widening:
http://heraldsun.com/view/full_story_news_durham/12228045/article-Council-to-ponder-Alston-widening?instance=main_article

Please consider writing council (Council at DurhamNC.Gov) to express your
opposition to the widening Alston Ave as currently proposed by the DOT, and
to support a 3 lane option. Some points to consider including:
1. We'd like them to make choices that benefit Durham long term. The long
term positive economic impact of a revived and thriving East Durham far
outweighs the benefit of having DOT execute a 30 million dollar road
project.
2. East Durham needs to be connected to downtown in order to continue to
thrive. A road that is up to 6 lanes wide does not invite crossing. A road
with extensive property retaining walls does not invite crossing.
3. DOT shouldn't put down more pavement than we need.
3.1 Alston Ave's traffic counts have been decreasing slightly ever since
1997 (http://www.ncdot.org/travel/statemapping/trafficvolumemaps/). Yet the
DOT has designed the road to carry 60% more cars in the next 20 years. How
do we justify expecting such an increase given our 13 years of data that
show just the opposite?
3.2 Additionally, with the East End Connect being built, we can reasonably
assume some current 147->I85 through traffic will instead use that road. My
brief look at the data suggests maybe 25-50% of the traffic on Alston Ave is
through traffic. What do the traffic models show if the East End Connector
is included in the model?
4. Alston Ave runs through small scale commercial districts, residential
area, and past an elemetary school. The road design should be appropriate
for its context. At its current width, it's the same scale as Fayetteville
St at the Streets at Southpoint. Our neighborhood doesn't look like
Southpoint, and neither should our roads.
5. The Environmental Impact Study found that the road would have a negative
impact on the National Historic District Goldenbelt neighborhood- truly
severing that neighborhood in two.




-- 
DeDreana Freeman of the Golden Belt Historic District
Durham N.C. 27701
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