What's important now is to recognize that the process of constructing a 25th Street Street car system has been at least temporarily derailed
Bad news this morning for 25th Street Street car corridor advocates, as the Standard-Examiner reports that it could require another two years, and a new UTA study to support the City Council's preference that a "streetcar run from the Intermodal Hub up 23rd Street to Washington Boulevard, along 25th Street to Harrison Boulevard, and on to Weber State University and McKay-Dee Hospital":
Central city streetcar corridor advocates have stood by in amazement as UTA bureaucrats have hijacked the Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis process, rejecting the 2005 Baker Study's preferred 25th street corridor, and substituting the boneheaded Wilbur Smith & Assocs.'s 36th Street preferred alignment instead. We don't know why this has happened; but we do believe there's ample evidence to suggest that the process was rigged. We won't go further into possible motives here, except to note that it has been repeatedly suggested that Flatland Gondola advocates, who've wanted to keep a central city transit corridor clear for a possible gondola, may have had a hand in the process.
What's important now is not to dwell on opposition motives however, but rather to recognize that the process of constructing a 25th Street Street car system has been at least temporarily derailed, in which connection we'll urge our City Council to scrupulously follow PB PlaceMaking, Inc. consultant GB Arrington's advice, and to somehow "marry what the city is trying to do with what UTA has already done," in order to get the process back on track.
That's it for now, O Gentle Ones.
Who'll be the first to chime in to further enlighten us on the meaning of all this?
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12 comments:
Mr. Carpenter's statement about ridership is not consistent with what it says in the Alternatives Analysis documents. I've just sent him an email asking for clarification. Stay tuned.
Just received a reply from Mr. Carpenter, who says he never made that statement. Here are his exact words:
"Mr. Schwebke and I did not specifically discuss ridership projections on the different alternatives for this article. We did discuss the alternatives analysis process and how the outcome (in this case the recommended alternative) is determined by the inputs (purpose and need, existing environmental conditions, existing planning and zoning, etc.), and that if you change any of those factors you may get a different outcome."
Fascinating, Dan. Thanks for following up on this!
I think the dismay in your post is misplaced. Yes, this may take longer, but the City Council is now united around a 25th-Harrison alignment, are working on zoning changes and a resolution among other things to support that, and have hired a transit specialist to help them accomplish their goal.
The unity of the citizens of Ogden around a 25th-Harrison alignment, is now reflected with the City Council; yes it has taken a while to get there, but in the end this is good news- it has prevented a route which there is no public support for, that of Washington-36th, and there is very strong momentum on the part of the City Council in favor of 25th-Harrison. That process has taken time, and cost us time, but it may well prevent a route that no one really supports from being pursued in the federal process- one that seems unlikely to get funding without said public support.
There has been much more good news on the streetcar project in the last few months, than bad news. For some reason, unfortunately, none of it is getting reflected in the Standard-Examiner, or other news outlets.
Thanks for your comment, Observer; and let me say that I think you're basically correct... yes... we ARE (however tediously) moving in the right direction, street-car wise .
I can't fail to grouse about the complete inefficiency of the process, however. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to ride a COOL Central City urban streetcar (just as my grandparents did) at least once sometime before I pass off the "old" mortal coil, if ya knows what I mean (and I thinks ya do).
OK, statements attributed to Mr. C. by the SE's reporter have been flatly denied by Mr. C. Be interesting to see how the SE deals with Mr. C's claim that the was badly misquoted in an SE story. The paper can print a correction, or it can reply by saying it "stands by its story" [meaning it claims Mr. C. is not being accurate in his statement], or it can ignore the matter entirely.
Since Dan's post containing Mr. C's claim that he was misquoted is on the SE Site as well, will be interesting to see which of the three options the SE chooses.
Wow! What an amazing grasp of the obvious!
May be obvious to you how --- or whether --- the SE will respond. It's not to me.
I know what the editor of Curmudgeon's Daily Post Intelligencer & Price Current would do, but for some inexplicable reason that worthy has not been made managing editor of the SE.
Rudi says,
"We've wasted a full six years dawdling, since the Baker Study, for instance."
Yes, and we've dawdled on the river project, and, and, and...
But wait .... we do have a completely empty and unused Executive Terminal at the community airport.
You see, it's a question of vision. Godfrey envisioned a gondola and executive planes zipping in and out. After all, Kurt Geiger was here....
You should have said we've wasted 12 years with Godfrey, not six. Next January we can begin again.
Bingo, Danny.
Next January we CAN begin again.
Interstingly, rudizink keeps saying "we this and we that".
He has no stake on the grill, however.
He is not a Weber County Resident.
He is just a dickless pussy with a computer, hating on a city from the comfort of his fat man chair..
But please, rz, continue.
What would the world be without shiftless drunks to make fun of?
On a bright note, it looks like spring is finally here, and with it, Farmers Market.
Oh, the joy of seeing old friends!
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