[Vision2020] 3rd St. Pedestrian Bridge
Linda Pall
lpall at moscow.com
Wed May 2 08:16:41 PDT 2007
Dear Cynthia,
I've been looking at the discussion about Third Street and appreciate your interest! I hope that you will attend the City's Comp Plan Rewrite Dialogue in your area tonight or tomorrow night (6 PM). If you need to know the location, please call Merrilee Larsen at Community Development, 883-7035; she'll be glad to fill you in.
As to how comprehensive is 'comprehensive' for planning purposes, the idea is that the plan covers everything (or most things!) but not forever, in concrete. All kinds of things can change, including new visions and values, new approaches to solving town and urban challenges, new management techniques for land use and other aspects of the plan, and greater citizen participation throughout the community in the planning process. The 1999 Plan has many valuable aspects. Unfortunately, the 1999 Plan's creation took seven years of 'catch-as-catch-can' work by staff and the Planning Commission, as it updated a previous plan. We had some lively debate over the Third Street designation but the Plan reflected a very auto-oriented cirulation system.
Two years ago, the Council took the arterial designation off the table because we wanted to review the entire circulation system and emphasize multi-modal transportation options as we looked at the CIty as whole, with a balancing of interests and trade offs against our ultimate goals and aspirations as a community.
As the 2007 Comprehensive Plan Rewrite goes forward, the transportation piece will be very important. Please join us in as many forums as you can... your voice is appreciated and needed!
Thanks again for writing to Vision 2020.
All the best,
Linda Pall
Moscow City Council
cc: Vision2020
----- Original Message -----
From: cynthia nichols
To: Tom Ivie
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 5:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] 3rd St. Pedestrian Bridge
Thank you for all your detailed replies. I guess I was assuming that some day 3rd St. will continue on past Mountain View--it certainly was supposed to in the last Comprehensive Plan--at least I think so. I'm sure that eventually 3rd St. will go through even though the Windfall development fell through--or am I wrong?
When I moved here, it seemed very clear that 3rd St. continuing on into the Pullman Highway was always meant to be a main thoroughfare. It is VERY wide near the creek, no narrower than 6th St. most of the way. Why oh why should people have to drive up 3rd to Hayes, then go to 6th to get to Mountain View? Seems kinda funny to me.
I'm also curious to know which students will be crossing at that pedestrian bridge. The elementary students who live on the east side of mountain view go to MacDonald, right? And the Jr. High kids can cross at B or D (D has the stop sign now), no?
I'm VERY much for connecting neighborhoods. I personally believe that EVERY development should be required to have easements to connect to other neighborhoods. My husband & I walk our dog every day all over the place (and we ride our bikes often too) and love to find places where cars can't go. I guess I don't like the fact that people in a small niche of the city could force a change, in 2006, in the 1999 comprehensive plan. I mean if a comprehensive plan can be changed by complaint, it's not too "comprehensive". And the city's writing another one as we speak. How "comprehensive" will it be?
By the way, when we ride our bikes, we go just as we do with a car. We take 6th ST. which is quite wide and flat at Mountain View, to Blaine (also flat and not congested in this section), north to 5th or 3rd, then 3rd the rest of the way west. Kids riding would never have to get on Blaine because they can use that wonderful right-of-way that cuts through across from the funeral home on 6th.
Thanks again for all your background.
Cynthia
On May 1, 2007, at 12:58 PM, Tom Ivie wrote:
Excellent point Donovan.
Michael Kyte, Director of the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology (NIATT) and member of the Transportation Research Board's Committee on Highway Capacity and Quality of Service has timed the difference of the two routes to be less than one minute. By putting in a vehicular bridge, a driver would save less than one minute.
Third Street is the flattest East/West Route and it makes sense to have a pedestrian bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Mitigation is an interesting word. The need for mitigation only exists when a project or situation creates a problem(s) most often that cause harm to an individual, group, environment, or species. Mitigation can be seen as any effort to try and prevent negative effects. Why go forward with a project or situation that causes harm? It differs from other measures because it specifically deals with risk. A precursor activity to the mitigation is the identification of risks.
What are the risks involved for pedestrians, bicyclists, a neighborhood, and vehicles with a vehicular bridge vs. a pedestrian bridge? (both with and without both of these)
The following is some background on the pedestrian bridge idea and it's origins. (for those that aren't familiar with it or who believe it was an effort to circumvent the vehicle bridge).
The folks from Moscow's Paradise Path (part of Moscow's Parks & Rec) brought some consultant/ organizers from City Repair of Portland to a workshop on Sept 10, 2005. After a presentation and brainstorming session, attendees at the workshop identified places in Moscow that might be candidates for City Repair's ideas of people reclaiming their urban spaces to create community-oriented places. These places were:
a.. Deadman's Hill (Adams, from B to C streets)
b.. F Street Hill
c.. West entrance to Moscow
d.. Hwy 95 & Hwy 8 Intersection
e.. Harrison St right of way south of Hwy 8 (connection to Berman Creekside Park)
f.. 3rd St Crossing of Paradise Creek
g.. Travois Way Linear Park
h.. D Street and Mt View Intersection
i.. F Street and Mt View Intersection
j.. Taylor and Lauder Intersection
k.. A Street and Main Street Triangle
From these, three were picked by the group (West Entrance to Moscow, Intersection Of Hwys95and8, 3rd St Crossing) for further brainstorming.
For more information about City Repair please visit their website http://www.cityrepair.org
Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
The costs outweigh the gains of placing a vehicle bridge across the 3rd Street and Mountain View intersection.
Think, what do you gain. You gain an access point, but to what and at what costs to others.
Taking 3rd Street instead of D Street or 6th Street takes longer to get to town. The width of the road, the right of way, positioning of stop signs, pedestrian traffic, and other vehicle traffic makes using 3rd Street a slower alternative. I suggest you drive this route:
Joesph St. to Mountain View to 3rd Street. Time it. Then drive the distance from the end of 3rd Street to downtown. Time that and add the times together.
Next, drive from Joesph Street to 6th Street, then make a right on Hayes, the a left on 3rd and follow it all the way downtown. You will find it took you longer to drive the Mountain View Route.
The same is true with coming from the northeast side of town off Dst Street. It is faster to take Dst and go left on 95 than it is to take Mountain View and try to go right down 3rd Street.
There are no houses on the other side of Mountain View where it would be a quicker access point to use 3rd than either 6th or D streets.
The city would be creating another access point, but it would not be a faster or safer route. So it seems like a weak argument when you consider it would disrupt parking and reduce safety in the neighborhood. Not to mention the environmental impact problems to the creek and lightening of the taxpayers wallet.
I would rather see a bridge across 3rd Street/Highway for safe passage of students over the traffic. The City is working on the wrong end of the street.
Best,
Donovan
Dan Carscallen <areaman at moscow.com> wrote:
Cynthia asks:
"Someone please explain to me WHY a pedestrian bridge is being built at
3rd St. Please try to convince me that it's not to, once and for
all, prevent an auto bridge from going there. What powerful people in
Moscow DON'T want that?"
>From what I heard at the Administrative Committee meeting last Monday,
if the placement of a pedestrian bridge is to either the north or the
south, it would not preclude the future addition of a vehicular bridge
in the future (a vehicular bridge is a part of the Comprehensive Plan).
One must realize there is some pretty vocal opposition to a vehicular
bridge there, which got it put on the back burner about a year and a
half ago. If a person is in favor of a vehicular bridge there (which I
think would work with some traffic mitigation), that person should make
their opinion known to the powers-that-be.
DC
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