INC NEWS - Column: Go for the big fish to stop a sea of trafficproblems (Dur

[pat carstensen]

My husband points out that Franklin and Columbia Street in Chapel Hill is 
the intersection of numbered highways -- but they have somehow managed to 
get an agreement to let car traffic get congested there while foot traffic 
feels protected.

And one thing that our local decision makers DO affect is the development 
patterns that put people living far enough from where they work that they 
feel they "need" to speed through our neighborhoods.

Regards, pat


>From: John Schelp <bwatu at yahoo.com>
>To: %INClistserv <inc-list at DurhamINC.org>
>Subject: INC NEWS - Column: Go for the big fish to stop a sea of 
>trafficproblems (Durham News)
>Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 06:06:52 -0800 (PST)
>
>Column: Go for the big fish to stop a sea of traffic
>problems
>By Frank Hyman, Durham News, 20 Jan 2007
>
>My neighborhood is split in two by what we call "The
>Ocean." You know it better as North Roxboro Street.
>It's only 50 feet across, as much as a wide stream,
>but one that contains two lanes of cars and trucks
>that roar through our neighborhood like a linear tidal
>wave. If you want to cross it on foot or with a
>stroller, it might as well be an ocean.
>
>And thanks to an organization that could be called the
>North Carolina Department of Fast Cars and Poor
>Hearing -- but that you probably know as the N.C.
>Department of Transportation or NCDOT -- that Ocean
>has become harder to cross. Many wade across The Ocean
>at the Knox Street intersection to get to Duke Park,
>an island of tall oaks with a popular play structure
>that possesses the bold colors and grand scale of a
>Calder sculpture.
>
>NCDOT has widened The Ocean here by adding a turn
>lane, not to access the nearby I-85 overpass, but to
>access the neighborhood. Dismissing the neighbors'
>argument that this lane is unnecessary, the NCDOT made
>the crossing 10 feet wider without adding
>pedestrian-friendly features sought by neighbors, such
>as a pedestrian-activated crossing light or a raised
>median for a halfway point for the crossing.
>
>While city staff and council members are sympathetic,
>they have no leeway. Why? Roxboro is not a city
>street. It is owned by the state and so the buck stops
>there.
>
>My neighborhood isn't the only one feeling the
>turbulence of NCDOT policies. They are going ahead
>with plans to widen Alston Avenue despite local
>consensus that building the East End Connector outside
>of town would be a better way to reduce congestion
>from Research Triangle Park commuters.
>
>Opposition to the widening of Alston is building. Gary
>Kueber of www.endangereddurham.blogspot.com describes
>problems such as intersections that will be six lanes
>wide, unmarked bike lanes, narrow sidewalks and
>features that will accelerate traffic to speeds that
>will endanger pedestrians and bikers. Again, local
>officials are listening, but they can't do much. Why?
>Alston Avenue is a state road.
>
>Just last week a female pedestrian was killed in a
>hit-and-run on Duke Street. Again, a state-owned road
>in the center city. Again, the NCDOT has not listened
>to local requests for simple steps that would cut
>accidents and noise.
>
>So if local officials can't force improvements on
>these state-owned streets -- Roxboro, Alston, Duke
>(and their associated one-way pairings: Mangum and
>Gregson) -- what can citizens do?
>
>Years ago when the Durham DOT didn't respond to
>worries about cut-through traffic on Carolina Avenue,
>the neighbors invited city council members to a
>continental breakfast there. A table full of coffee
>and pastries waited on one side of the street. Plates,
>napkins, sugar and cream were across the street. And
>rush hour had just begun. Casualties were few that
>day, but quicker than you could butter a croissant,
>the council made Carolina [at Hillsborough Rd] a
>cul-de-sac. (That's French for "dead-end street.")
>
>Another story.
>
>A few years later, when the NCDOT wouldn't put a sound
>wall where I-85 brushed against Club Boulevard School,
>our former state senator, Wib Gulley, threatened to
>introduce legislation requiring NCDOT to install sound
>walls for all schools. Suddenly, NCDOT developed a
>sense of hearing and built a sound wall for the
>school. Gulley dropped the proposal.
>
>My advice is to stop spending time mucking about with
>the NCDOT staff -- they are transportation engineers
>doing what transportation engineers are paid to do:
>move cars fast.
>
>Once you learn their lingo and realize they won't help
>you, go over their heads. Department head Lyndo
>Tippett -- he of the unrepaired median cables that
>have cost lives on our highways -- would be a first
>stop.
>
>But if you're not getting satisfaction here (don't
>expect much) go over his head to our representative on
>the state Board of Transportation, attorney Ken
>Spaulding. Spaulding is also a former Durham
>legislator and knows how the game is played. And when
>it comes to the NCDOT, the game is called hardball.
>With a velvet catcher's mitt.
>
>If Spaulding can't find leverage to calm traffic on
>our state streets, then let the governor know. Part of
>the unspoken deal -- so expect them to deny it -- when
>a governor hires department heads and makes board
>appointments is that these folks will keep the Guv
>from having to meet with unhappy local folks. A good
>rule of citizen action is that if you're not happy
>about the state of things, make sure that the people
>who can get you what you want are not happy either.
>Then you'll see change.
>
>And maybe Gov. Easley, Ken Spaulding and Lyndo Tippett
>need to be invited to try to cross The Ocean with some
>neighbors one day. While pushing strollers.
>
>
>Frank Hyman is a former member of the Durham City
>Council.
>
>_______________________________________________
>INC-list mailing list
>INC-list at rtpnet.org
>http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/listinfo/inc-list

_________________________________________________________________
Turn searches into helpful donations. Make your search count. 
http://click4thecause.live.com/search/charity/default.aspx?source=hmemtagline_donation&FORM=WLMTAG