Former State Representative Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak) points out that the "comprehensive regional" part of the Detroit regional transportation plan is "being ignored" in a frank, must-read assessment of the metro area's lagging efforts. "Our leaders can't agree on a regional authority to operate and plan a transit system -- or if we even need one," she observes archly. A planner by profession, Donigan doesn't spare her own kind: she cites authorities' "top-down" approach to public involvement as another obstacle to progress.
Few news outlets reported on Saturday's Woodward light rail hearings, and none provided details on the implications of rail alternatives. All the more reason why we need citizen media to fill the gap.
Complete Streets advocates are still out burning up the road, with a major organizing session in Lansing. Their model for effective political advocacy exemplifies "people power." Now to take that to the regional level!
Joel,
ReplyDeleteI attended the first session on Saturday and didn't see you. If you didn't attend and want the audio, let me know (if you know a way I could get it to you as email wouldn't allow a file really larger than say 1MB or so).
In fairness, the DEIS presentation was a bit sparese/rushed.
As for comments, what stuck out to me was the support for the median-running layout.
I suppose one thing that makes me wonder though and I need to look at some visuals, is how the median-running would impact pedestrians? Would it basically allow the length of the area adjacent to the lines to serve as pedestrian islands, or to do that, but only where there are stops and intersections? It's hard to tell based on pictures, such as on pg. 38 of the DEIS
On the question of pedestrian impacts, it depends; I don't think the final design has been decided. The environmental impact statement materials suggest that some existing pedestrian crossings may be closed, but this seems unnecessary. Other center-running light rail lines do allow for pedestrian crossings at intersections, even where no station is located. Check out Portland, Oregon's Interstate Avenue on Google Maps for an example.
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