Salt Lake Tribune Op-ed: Seven-lane Monsters Devour Communities

Worth a read, since UDOT's dropped its plans for a 7 lane Harrison Blvd. north of WSU only for the present

By Curmudgeon

Interesting op ed column up this morning in the SL Trib. It's by Chad Mullins and it's headlined in the print edition this way:

• Seven-lane Monsters Devour Communities

It's about the seven laning of roads [not interstates] through Utah communities --- much like what UDOT plans for part of Harrison Blvd and wanted to do to all of it --- and the consequences. Worth a read, since UDOT's dropped its plans for a 7 lane Harrison Blvd. north of WSU only for the present. Good column. Worth a read.

Standard-Examiner: Harrison Boulevard Wide Enough for Now

We'll chalk this up as a victory for Ogden City self-determination, and a defeat for Utah's Stalinesque central planning transportation bureaucracy, we guess

Good news for Ogden East Bench neighborhood preservation activists this morning, as the Standard-Examiner announces the Wasatch Front Regional Council's abandonment of its knuckle-headed Harrison Boulevard widening plan. Here's the lead from this morning's Mitch Shaw story:

CLEARFIELD — The Wasatch Front Regional Council has made some changes to its 30-year regional transportation plan in the Top of Utah.
After receiving public comments from government officials and area residents, WFRC is no longer planning to widen Harrison Boulevard in Ogden from 20th Street to U.S. 89.
Now, the plan calls for only operational improvements on the road from 20th Street to Country Hills Drive in Ogden, and widening the road from four lanes to six from Country Hills Drive to U.S. 89

Read the full story here:

• Harrison Boulevard wide enough for now

We'll chalk this up as a victory for Ogden City self-determination, and a defeat for Utah's Stalinesque "car-culture enamored" central planning transportation bureaucracy, we guess.

Important Council Work Session Set For Tomorrow Evening

A discussion of a proposed "Trojan Horse" widening of Harrison Boulevard is on the agenda

By: Brandon Chase Bell

There is a City Council Work Session set for tomorrow, Thursday, January 13th at 5:30 p.m., the purpose of which is "to discuss Harrison Boulevard and Regional Transportation, and to discuss Council Business."

See the excerpt from the City Meeting Notice below, as well as the below-linked notice and work session packet files. Meeting info:

Ogden City Council Work Session Notice
January 13, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
City Council Work Room – Third Floor
Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Boulevard

Notice is hereby given that the Ogden City Council will meet in a Work Session on Thursday, January 13, 2011 in the Council Work Room on the third floor of the Municipal Building located at 2549 Washington Boulevard in Ogden City, Weber County, Utah.
The purpose of the work session is to discuss Harrison Boulevard and Regional Transportation, and to discuss Council Business.

Representatives from the Wasatch Front Regional Council will be giving a presentation about the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan.

Click the link below to view the meeting announcement and the information packet the City Council received for the meeting with briefing documents on the WFRC 2040 Regional Transportation Plan:

• 01/13 City Council Work Session

According to the 2040 Transportation Plan in the packet for the work session there is widening proposed for Harrison north of 20th and south of 40th down to 89. This is almost as bad as widening the whole thing as it creates future pressure to widen Harrison through the heart of Ogden. It could be considered, like a trojan horse to not widen Harrison now, but put the pieces in place to put pressure to widen it in the future. Regional transportation needs are already served by I-15 and Wall Avenue. We do not need a belt route in Ogden, or more auto-oriented regional infrastructure. We need to be asking" "How will this serve Ogden residents? and How will it impact them?" Do people from North Ogden commuting to Hill Air Force Base, really need to drive through the heart of Ogden's neighborhoods to do so? Aren't we encouraging them to do so, by widening the other portions of Harrison.? This is based on an old, outdated, single-focus transportation paradigm, that doesn't work for Ogden and needs to be updated.

I should note it is a work session and that thus the public is not allowed to comment, but it is important that we show up, so our presence is visible, and speak with our City Council members before and after to make our feelings and the sentiments of the community felt and known.

Feel free to chime in with your own comments, before, during or after tomorrow's council work session.

Update 1/14/10 6:00 a.m.: The Standard-Examiner carries a story this morning reporting on the results of last night's Council work session:

• Ogden may ask UDOT to study Harrison Blvd. congestion

A Heads-up On Tomorrow's City Council & RDA Meetings - UPDATED

City Council/RDA Double header: A Harrison Boulevard Prelim and a Junction Hotel Project Main Event

For the benefit of Ogden City Council watchers, we'll provide a heads-up regarding a pair of Council and RDA meetings set for tomorrow's RDA-Council calenders.

1) The Prelim - Harrision Boulevard Road Widening: First, the City Council will hold a 5:30 p.m. work meeting to discuss, among other things, The Harrison Boulevard Road Widening Project:

• 11/09 City Council Work Session Packet

Although we'd previously assumed that this project had already been already favorably resolved, with the Wasatch Front Regional Council's abandonment of the road-widening contingency plan, perhaps there remain a few loose ends; so we'll therefore urge readers who are still warily following developments in re this topic to sit in and report on tomorrow night's meeting.

2) The Main Event - Boss Godfrey's Junction Hotel Project Du Jour: On the heels of Saturday's WCF article, we observe that Boss Godfrey's wasting no time setting the stage for his latest Junction Hotel Project, and that he's somehow managed to finagle an immediate audience with the Emerald City RDA Board for tomorrow night, following the above Council work session, wherein the intricate Rube Goldberg-style details of this project's desperately hoped-for financing will be revealed. Here's the full Council-RDA packet:

• 11/09 City Council-RDA Work Session/Regular Meeting Packet

We invite all real estate finance wonks to review the proposed Development Agreement, and to examine Boss Godfrey's dizzying array of half-assed proposed financing mechanisms, including, but not limited to these:

a. A Special Assessment Area
b. ARRA QRZED Program Bonds (Parking),
c. ARRA QRZF Program Bonds (Private),
d. TIF Bonds,
e. An EDA Grant,
f. Restructuring of existing Junction loans,
g. Sale by the RDA of the raw land for $1.5 mil, in consideration for a promissory note with initial payment deferred 5-7 years.

Although our readers did get a head start in their analysis behind Saturday's article, we invite anyone who'd like to wade into this newly-displayed data to fatten up the WCF discussion now.

We'll leave the lights on for any brave meeting attendee who'd like to comment post-meeting, with a full dose of NoDoz of course.

Update 11/10/10 7:25 a.m.: Here's a post-meeting report from the Standard-Examiner, such as it is:

• Ogden works on bonds for new hotel

Standard-Examiner: Legacy To Stop At 12th; Harrison Won't Be Wider

More evidence that robust citizen involvement in regional transportation planning pays big dividends

Fantastic news for Ogden activists who worked feverishly to notify the Wasatch Front Regional Council concerning your strong opposition to the widening of Harrison Boulevard. The Standard-Examiner's Mitch Shaw reports this morning that the WFRC has revised its Regional Transportation Plan and is "no longer planning to widen Harrison Boulevard from 20th Street to Highway 89." From this morning's SE story:

Now, the plan calls for only operational improvements on the road from 20th Street to Country Hill Drive, and widening the road from four lanes to six from Country Hills Drive to Highway 89.
"We had some concerns from citizens and the city council and the mayor asked us to take it off," [WFRC spokesman Sam] Klemm said.

Read this morning's entire encouraging SE story here:

• Legacy to stop at 12th; Harrison won't be wider

Not only does this plan revision relieve the East Ogden neighborhood from the threat of being crudely bisected by "a potentially 7-lane 'regional arterial;'" it also removes one more obstacle to the selection of a 25th Street east-west corridor streetcar route.

Nice work, Emerald City citizens. This is more evidence that robust citizen involvement in regional transportation planning pays big dividends.

Trentelman Chimes in On Widening Harrison Boulevard

His solution to the traffic mess is right on the money, too

By Curmudgeon

Charlie Trentelman has a potpourri Wasatch Rambler column in this morning's SE, which includes comment on UDOT's considering widening Harrison Blvd to 7 lanes [it's now 5 wide]. Here's a taste:

Now is the time to loudly protest the idea the Wasatch Front Regional Council is kicking around of widening Harrison Boulevard from five lanes to seven. Why not nine? Or 11? This will hurt efforts to revive Ogden by widening the physical and social divide between central city and the benches. It will force expensive removal of homes and businesses. It will cost billions of dollars and if Riverdale is any indication, it won't speed up traffic anyway.

And his solution to the traffic mess is right on the money, too. His full comment on this is well worth a read.

Standard-Examiner: Road Widening Proposal Draws Criticism

Better late than never, we guess

One day after the expiration of the public comments period, the Standard-Examiner is finally getting around to covering the Harrison Boulevard road widening story:

• Proposal draws criticism / Ogden seeks talk with WFRC, UDOT on adding lanes to Harrison Boulevard

Can you say "A day late and a dollar short?"

Better late than never, we guess.

Let the Wasatch Front Regional Council Know That "Harrison Blvd is NOT Ogden's Belt Loop!"

If you don't want Harrison Blvd. to be widened for MORE auto traffic, send an e-mail now!

By Brandon Chase Bell

The Wasatch Front Regional Council is currently updating it's Regional Transportation Plan, and is accepting public comment- but only, as we understand currently, until this coming Thursday, September 9, 2010!

One of the potential recommendations in this plan is the widening of Harrison Boulevard for MORE auto traffic, to potentially a 7 lane "regional arterial" type road. In addition to our support for a 25th-Harrison streetcar, the Trolley District opposes this part of the plan. - We know of no one in Ogden who is supportive of widening Harrison for more auto traffic. - However, there has been VERY little public awareness of this plan, or local public process, to gauge the public will about widening Harrison for more auto-traffic to become a potentially 7-lane "regional arterial."

We can use this opportunity to show your support for a 25th-Harrison streetcar/transit line, as transit is part of what is being considered in this plan as well as for not widening Harrison for more auto-traffic. (Based on other designs in other cities, any widening would only need to be minimal for transit on Harrison, if the line is engineered correctly, and would mostly need to be for just the stops- not at all the same type of drastic widening all along Harrison we are talking about with this WFRC plan).

If you don't want Harrison to be widened for MORE auto traffic, and potentially turning into a 7 lane auto arterial send an e-mail to Sam Klemm at the Wasatch Front Regional Council, and cc Pam Jorgensen on that email. This is a VERY easy way to help fulfill the civic responsibility we all share to participate in our communities and the local decision making process. As the time left for public comment is so brief, ('til next Thursday) please do this as soon as you read this e-mail and don't delay by resolving to do it later. Please act NOW. Here is a simple message, that you can put in your own words if you would like, or copy into your e-mail:

"Put the Downtown-WSU transit line up 25th Street and along Harrison, and don't widen ANY of Harrison for more auto traffic--not even the parts to the north or south--except to accommodate transit."

Here is Sam Klemm at the Wasatch Front Regional Council's address along with Pam Jorgenson, who should be cc'ed in your email to Sam:

Sam Klemm: sam@wfrc.org
(Public Information Officer)

Pam Jorgensen: pjorgensen@wfrc.org
(Administrative Assistant)
(she makes sure Sam gets the emails, etc)- so cc' her on your email.

Please take the simple step of sending an email now!

Thanks for your support,

-Brandon

Editor's addendum: For additional information about this issue, please visit this Harrison Blvd is NOT Ogden's Belt Loop Group Facebook page, and read the text provided in the center column:

• Facebook - Harrison Blvd is NOT Ogden's Belt Loop!

Let's all get crackin' on Brandon's suggested email campaign, folks. With three days remaining for public input, we wouldn't want to see another bone-headed and bureaucrat-concocted project inadvertently shoved down the Emerald City Lumpencitizens' throats!