This morning's Standard-Examiner reports that Gentle Reader Curmudgeon's 10/28/10 speculation is correct, and that the UTA has indeed modified its Ogden bus routes numbers 603 and 612, to keep 25th Street whitesome and delightsome, and to prevent, among other things, "...mass gatherings that occur in front of businesses due to transfer or stops":
• UTA reworks Ogden bus routesSteve Conlin, current Historic 25th Street Business Association president wrote his letter on April 14, requesting that the unsightly Ogden riffraff board busses on 26th Street; and here we are less than three months later with the major downtown bus stops now to be relocated from Ogden's Downtown destination hot spot, 25th Street, to the relatively barren region of 26th. That's what we call "political juice."
And for those wondering about the Ogden City Administration's commitment to convenient and efficient downtown public transit, those riders of routes 603 and 612 will have plenty of opportunity to think about it, as they're trudging in the dark back and forth between 25th and 26th, or sitting at a dimly lighted bus stop at 26th and Grant. As Mr. Schwebke notes in this morning's above linked story, the Boss Godfrey Administration joined with Mr. Conlin in requesting this boneheaded plan.
So what about it, gentle readers, is your blogmeister the only one miffed about this seemingly knuckleheaded plan?
12 comments:
I personally won't miss the exhaust heavy buses running up and down 25th street. The less traffic on this street the better.
There are important public safety issues here, I believe, in addition to issues of public convenience, as Robert Becker mentions in today's SE story. I have a proposition for you, IJS:
Take a walk from 25th to 26th and Grant tonight around 9:00 p.m., and stand at the corner in the relative dark for about ten minutes.
Then I believe you'll "get the drift" and come to understand what I'm sayin'
Compared to the safety issues, a little diesel exhaust is a relatively small inconvenience, in my book. Of course those who don't rely upon public transit, and instead drive smoke belching automobiles are free to disagree about this.
Careful, Rudi. We wouldn't want to see IJS get mugged, would we?
It would be easy to run one of the buses down Lincoln for a block or two, so that it intersects 25th.
It would be wise to allow a streetcar down 25th street, for innumerable reasons.
It would be prudent to elect better leadership for this town.
I live, and I work, right on 25th street, and as someone who spends more time down town than virtually anyone around, I can attest: keep the buses on Two Bit, and ban from 25th street the red neck idiots in brand-new diesel pickups from belching their toxic filth all over the kids eating ice cream.
To anyone who does not like public transportation, have a nice smoggy day. You and your ilk are almost done on this planet.
Brilliant post, Stephen, in my never humble opinion.
Thanks!
Just like the liquor commission where only one actually drinks the UTA only listens to those who would never ride a bus. Politics again rule against common sense.
Lets poll the 25th street merchants and ask who really wanted the bus routes changed?
IJS-If Diesel exhaust is bad what about all of the exhaust fumes emitted by automobiles driving that portion of 25th street. Look out your window and see how many vehicles have only one passenger. It seems counterproductive to ban public transportation while at the same time the city is extolling the many fine shops on 25th street.Lack of handy available public transportation will hurt foot traffic on the street. Unless the mayor has plans to build a huge parking lot on or near 25th street for all of the automobiles.
Everything the city does seems to fly in the face of common sense. The city is busy financing parking garages for downtown, making blight designations, while trying to alter some its most used mass transit routes? Unbelievable. Let's kill our downtown and make Ogden as drab and pedestrian unfriendly as we possibly can!
There was a sideways remark by Steve Conlin in the article suggesting that the 25th St Merchants might ask for 25th to be closed to vehicles and made a pedestrian mall.
Anyone know the status of that proposal, if it indeed exists?
Comments:
Nice that the SE, after reading the WCF comments two weeks ago, roused itself to finally report on this.
And what else is new? Downtown businesses wanting to run people off because they aren't the right type. Just like they ran off cruising the 'vard, ran off the summer beer bash, etc.
These morons are the epitome of incompetent stupidity.
They will always be small players in a small market. Jerks who will never do much of anything, because they lack the ability to see the fool in the mirror, and change.
Successful people welcome most all customers. They welcome traffic. They are humble, and successful.
It can hardly be a coincidence that John Patterson is the person who complained three years ago about poor people "lingering in downtown public spaces — making it uncomfortable for others to use the public facilities; reported and observed incidents of public urination; and aggressive panhandling." (In response, I would suggest that Mr. Patterson visit a real city once in a while, where these sorts of problems actually do occur. In Ogden, these things are simply not a problem.)
In general, public transit should go where the people are--especially the pedestrians. Diverting bus routes away from busy streets and sidewalks is just plain stupid.
I wonder how often Patterson and Conlin ride the bus.
For the long term, of course, the 603 bus route should be replaced by a streetcar. During the streetar planning meetings last year, an alignment on lower 25th Street was immediately dismissed because they said it would mean getting rid of the diagonal parking. Of course, if the long-term plan is to close the street to cars entirely, then that wouldn't be a problem.
But I'm highly skeptical of the idea of closing 25th Street to cars, ever. And I say this as a person who bicycles to 25th Street twice as often as I drive. (Diagonal parking is a severe hazard to cyclists but I can deal with it.) One of the wonderful things about cities is their diversity--including diversity of transportation modes. 25th Street currently thrives with a mix of pedestrians, bicycles, automobiles, and buses. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Lately I've had a grand epiphany that's made me understand why UTA is such a joke.
Virtually all of the people here in Utah that make the decisions regarding mass transit (whether they be UTA officials, UTA board members or city officials) never use mass transit themselves.
Because Mayor Godfrey never takes the 603 to downtown (even though it runs almost straight from his house to his office, with no transfers or long walks involved), he just doesn't understand how much more unappealing it will be if it's shifted over to 26th St. But for those of us who HAVE used that route, we understand.
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