Melnea Cass Blvd

[Bananarama]

I'm sure it'll be back, but let's not forget that the original project had already gone out to bid, opened bids, selected a bidder, and awarded the construction contract. That process alone can often take 6 months, and it also probably means that the original contractor is going to walk away with a payout of part of the projects budget.

Yep. It's a mess.

I wish they would just repave the South Bay Harbor trail in the meantime. It's out of the way, little to no impact on traffic. I'd take that path instead of the road if it weren't the surface of the moon...

 

[cburns]

Heres an example of why this kind of advocacy is important.

Look at this street with 3 rows of mature trees.

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Heres the same street after a "bike lane project"

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Looking more closely, the hardscape appears to be in the exact same position in those two shots. Do you have information to cite that tree removal was a condition for a bike lane? Where is that bike lane in the second shot?

 

[C-Town_Jeff]

Looking more closely, the hardscape appears to be in the exact same position in those two shots. Do you have information to cite that tree removal was a condition for a bike lane? Where is that bike lane in the second shot?

I am unfamiliar with the project, but I do spent a lot of time looking at google street view, and I did stay at a Holiday Inn. The island in the middle did shift. Watch the location of the fire hydrant in relation to the curbs. I agree though that I don't see a new bike lane and I don't see why the middle shifted. That all said I think regardless of why the tree were removed, I think the point still stands that a tree is not just a tree. Age, type, and location can change the value and impact of the tree greatly.

 

[jass]

Looking more closely, the hardscape appears to be in the exact same position in those two shots. Do you have information to cite that tree removal was a condition for a bike lane? Where is that bike lane in the second shot?

The bike lane is the area to the right of the white line adjacent to the curb.

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Half the bike lane is a drain, which the county engineers INSISTED as a requirement. Creating the drain meant removing every tree adjacent to the curb because they had to dig that area up. I dont know why they werent replaced.

The center median was shrunk by like a foot to fit the bike lanes.

You can see it moved based on this fire hydrant, which didnt move

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Naturally, that meant wiping out all the trees.

The fact is, American engineers cannot be trusted when it comes to stuff like trees.

 

[cden4]

I think this was largely about the trees, but it was also made much worse by the broken trust between the community and the City. The City would meet with the community but didn't seem to be truly listening. The consultants were not coming up with good designs and the city staff completely bungled the community engagement. I think the whole thing just got completely out of hand. They had gone so far down the rabbit hole on a particular design that they felt obligated to continue, even as continued changes to the design actually made the community less pleased with what was planned. A reset was needed, even though it would cost more in the end.

 

[jass]

I think this was largely about the trees, but it was also made much worse by the broken trust between the community and the City. The City would meet with the community but didn't seem to be truly listening. The consultants were not coming up with good designs and the city staff completely bungled the community engagement. I think the whole thing just got completely out of hand. They had gone so far down the rabbit hole on a particular design that they felt obligated to continue, even as continued changes to the design actually made the community less pleased with what was planned. A reset was needed, even though it would cost more in the end.

I believe it. Ive been part of various projects where the workflow seems to be like this:

Public Meeting 1
Public: "Can we change x?"
Officials: "oh this is just a preliminary meeting, dont worry about the details, that comes later, its all about the vision!"

Public Meeting 2
Public: "Ok, now can we change x?"
Officials: "Actually the project is at 95% design so we cant change anything or we lose the funding"

 

[Jahvon09]

Wasn't this street once named Crosstown Road before?