Month: August 2010

A few small sidewalk victories

All but this section of Runnymede sidewalk (above) has been cleared off.

Some of you recall that a few weeks back I wrote an op-ed (with lots of photos) “Walk This Way. If You Can,” about my experience walking to work, a 4.2-mile hike along Providence and Queens Roads and Morehead Street. I mentioned several spots where unkempt sidewalks would pose obstacles to anyone in a wheelchair (or on roller skates, or trying to walk two abreast, for that matter). The one that brought the most comment from readers was my mention of several sections of the sidewalk along Runnymede, between Sharon Road and Colony Road. I pass there regularly in the car and walk there occasionally, and the sidewalk has been covered in leaves, mud and crud for at least a decade.

Finally! All but a small section has been cleared. (see photo at right).

I don’t know if it was publicity or whether the city’s transportation department contacted the property owners, but several Saturdays ago I spotted a guy with a big broom sweeping off the muck. And the scraggly holly bushes planted at the edge of the sidewalk (their prickly leaves making for a tight squeeze past the hollies) have been cut down.

I had called 311 to report a couple of spots on Providence Road where, in one case, ivy and in another case, azaleas, had grown over the sidewalk leaving only a narrow passage. The city DOT is on the case. The ivy’s been cut back. The azaleas remain in need of severe pruning.

For the record, I have nothing against hollies and azaleas. I have planted, fertilized and otherwise tended both in our own yard, and they are valuable living things. Just not planted next to a too-narrow sidewalk.

Unlike Charlotte, Durham nixes digital billboards

Just spotted this article in the Raleigh News & Observer – the Durham City Council has turned unanimous thumbs down on a proposal to allow digital billboards.

Interesting. Charlotte, of course, allows them, having voted 8-2 in 2007 (council members Michael Barnes and Warren Turner were the “no” votes) to loosen the city’s already loose billboard standards to allow the large and distracting TV-screen like signs.

The article about Durham says Durham’s “City/County Planning Department recommended against the change in a strongly worded presentation that raised concerns about digital signs as motorist distractions and costly litigation that could be invited by tampering with an ordinance the city has already spent more than $1 million defending against industry challenges.”

Other cities that ban digital billboards include Chapel Hill, Morrisville, Cary and Raleigh.

Unlike Charlotte, Durham nixes digital billboards

Just spotted this article in the Raleigh News & Observer – the Durham City Council has turned unanimous thumbs down on a proposal to allow digital billboards.

Interesting. Charlotte, of course, allows them, having voted 8-2 in 2007 (council members Michael Barnes and Warren Turner were the “no” votes) to loosen the city’s already loose billboard standards to allow the large and distracting TV-screen like signs.

The article about Durham says Durham’s “City/County Planning Department recommended against the change in a strongly worded presentation that raised concerns about digital signs as motorist distractions and costly litigation that could be invited by tampering with an ordinance the city has already spent more than $1 million defending against industry challenges.”

Other cities that ban digital billboards include Chapel Hill, Morrisville, Cary and Raleigh.

How Charlotte competitor builds its streetcar

St. Louis, one of the four cities in the running with the QC for the probably-not-very-exciting 2012 Democratic National Convention, was also a recipient of one of those $25 million federal grants for a streetcar project. In “St. Louis’ Loop District Gets Endorsement from Feds with Grant for Streetcar,” Yonah Freemark at thetransportpolitic.com gives more details about the project – the only one of nine cities whose streetcar projects got federal money this year that plans a project outside of its downtown.

Some interesting tidbits: St. Louis plans its project to use both overhead wires (like Charlotte) and battery power, which will let it run through some segments of the route without the wires. “This could make St. Louis the first city in the U.S. to experiment with this sort of alternative propulsion for rail vehicles,” Freemark writes. Indeed, in talks about Charlotte’s streetcar and the problem of how to deal with The Square (at Trade and Tryon in the heart of downtown) if the project’s next phase is built, the idea of batteries has come up. Looks as if St. Louis will be the guinea pig on this technology.

Also interesting is the way it’s being funded: In addition to the feds’ $25 million grant, the project will get $6 million from the local Council of Government/MPO (Imagine this: In many, many metro regions the “regional planning” body and the “regional transportation planning” body are the same – duh!). Private money, estimated at $5 million to $8million, is expected from donors McCormack Baron Salazar, a national urban development firm with headquarters in St. Louis, which committed $2 million in tax credit equity, and the St. Louis Development Corp., which has pledged $3 million.

And, writes Freemark, “Operations will be covered by a transportation tax residents in the surrounding area approved by 97%. This strong show of local support, both financial and political, is likely one of the reasons St. Louis won the grant from the U.S. DOT over so many competitors.” That tax is in the form of a 1-cent sales tax in a transportation development district.

Charlotte folks should be paying attention to several lessons here: Look to multiple revenue sources such as special districts and getting the private sector which will reap some benefits to pay in. But this part needs to be in neon, with flashing red arrows pointing to it: Combine the region’s splintered MPOs (Metropolitan Planning Organizations for those of you not deeply into transportation policy) and the region’s COG, so there’s one regional planning agency doing the planning for the region.