Alston Ave Update: Supported by NECD group
It is disappointing, to say the least, that a group of advocates from various neighborhoods in eastern Durham have come out in support of the Alston Avenue widening as designed by NCDOT.
Unfortunately, in the us vs. them paradigm fostered by Mayor Bell in his "pulling money out of East Durham" language, what gets lost is the desire for a compromise solution for the road - in which the road is widened, but without some of the more damaging aspects for bicycle and pedestrian travel in the neighborhood.
I was extremely disappointed in Rev. Whitley's statement, as reported in the Herald that, because the road is dangerous for pedestrians right now, what difference does it make if the widening keeps it dangerous for pedestrians? Rev. Whitley and I differ on many points about East Durham - most notably the push to demolish historic houses; I respect his effort and advocacy, but I could not disagree more strongly with the idea that pedestrians should remain second class citizens when public money is put into road infrastructure change.
I hope the city council recognizes that there is no monolithic voice for eastern Durham; it needs to be sure that the voices of folks who live on Holloway, Taylor, Wall, Morning Glory, etc. - the people whose route to the park and the school, or to downtown, will be compromised - are heard. The most unfortunate aspect of the "North-East-Central Durham" frankenstein is that some people are assumed to speak for a vast area when they assume the us-vs-them posture, when they live no closer to Alston Avenue than folks living in Baldwin Lofts. Cleveland-Holloway is different than Morning Glory, which is different than Albright, which is different than East Durham, which is different than East End - etc., etc. Opinions differ.
But really, dividing the people of Durham on this issue is all so unnecessary; I'm convinced we can have our cake and eat it too if we just push hard enough on NCDOT. NCDOT has invested a lot of time and effort into the plans to widen this road - do you really think they want to walk away from it? The question is, when they draw a hard line, do we blink? NCDOT always assumes that it will get people to blink, because it is dangling the money out there. We shouldn't underestimate ourselves.
Lastly, I find it curious that many of the same people who are now supporting the widening of Alston Avenue are now also against the East End Connector. People making claims of the positive economic impact of widening Alston Avenue are making a highly dubious claim, in my opinion - roads don't focus economic benefit unless there is exisiting economic growth in the area; nor do roads that don't go anywhere provide much economic - or traffic - benefit. Widening Alston from the Freeway to Holloway isn't going to entice someone to suddenly invest in the neighborhood. Unless the folks advocating for it are suggesting we cut a thoroughfare north through all the neighborhoods between Holloway and I-85 - ?
But doesn't that sound a lot like the East End Connector, only in the middle of neighborhood rather than on the fringes of town?
In the end, this has, unfortunately, become about money rather than the product. When people speaking at the PAC 1 meeting compare the benefit of a wide Alston Avenue to both 1) Cary - and their economic success and 2) Ninth Street - and its economic success, there is obviously a massive disconnect. And when it becomes an economic issue, it becomes a racial issue, and whether or not to add right turn lanes to intersections becomes about historic injustice. Sigh. The tenor of the PAC 1 meeting was certainly about that.
What I see in this are the exact same forces that made urban renewal possible - those that saw the massive expenditure for their area rather than the final product. As anyone who knows me or has read this website knows, I am an ardent proponent of investment in eastern Durham - everything from the parts just east of Roxboro, to Alston Ave., to Angier + Driver, out to Highway 70 and the East End Connector. This is just a bad plan, and not one that the city should endorse out of a misguided attempt at fairness or equity. Spend the money in East Durham - spend more money in East Durham, in fact, on economic development - through jobs, incentives for companies, parks, schools, crime prevention, sidewalks, greenways, and, yes, good roads. Let's just do it right. NCDOT is the problem here, not each other.
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18 comments:
Gary,
I've read your comments and improvement ideas if widening of Altson were to take place in earlier posts. I think your ideas are great ideas. If those ideas were ideas presented during the planning stage, I cannot understand why they would be shot down, if thats the case.
Even now, I think a lot of your suggestions could EASILY be integrated into the existing plan.
So, if we don't blink, what actually happens in that process? Do you or anyone have someone in mind to lead the cause so that your good ideas are implemented, but at the same time, the resistance is so hard that any improvement in that area never occurs?
In an earlier blog, you had mentioned a city official indicating the project could be scrapped in favor of investing the money further south. I'd hate to see that. We really need someone influential enough to strike a balance here to get the good suggestions integrated without having an improvement of the area disappear.
With that said, let's just say the NCDOT plan, as it is, goes ahead without change. What next? What can the leaders and citizens of Durham do to make resulting project completion a benefit to the community and the city of Durham? Can we, then, integrate some of your ideas? Can we find ways to bring new business and improved neighborhood vitality to the area around the project area? If the project happens, what can we do to make it beneficial? Or is the belief that if the project goes to completion as is, that all hope is lost?
We really need a plan to get the good suggestions integrated without forfeiting improvement there on Alston. But if that fails, a backup plan is needed for the post Alston project. Contingencies, friend.
How many examples of Durham roads that have been widened do we have to remind people about whereby the neighborhood declined as a result of this type of expansion? How stable/desirable is that stretch of Roxboro Road (from Club to beyond Old Oxford Highway) in Braggtown as a result of its obvious widening? What wonderful houses through there, barely hanging on now. How about Broad Street, from Perry St all the way to Guess Road? How stable and desirable is that area for residential living?
How many more quality historic houses will get bastardized and commercialized in East Durham should this expansion happen as proposed?
Please let's find a way to strike a balance. Let's improve some infrastructure without "cutting off our nose to spite our face...."
AMS
After getting back from the PAC 1 meeting today, all I can say is that I feel sad for the many people that were shut down and not allowed to ask questions because regulars of the meetings did not agree with the positions of those wanting to gain clarity on the issue.
The attitude of the PAC 1 co-facilitator and many others in the room was best captured by Vivian McCoy when she said "you are SOL if you were not at the meeting in October". The October meeting is when it is assumed a decision was made to support the widening of Alston Ave. Many seemed to grumble that this decision was reached upon feeling that not supporting the project as is meant that the money would head to Woodcroft.
I support improvements to the road, but I do not support the current plans as is. I look at the corridor of Fayetteville St. in front of Hayti, Roxboro and Guess Road and I know that we are going to regret this measure if it comes to pass.
I think East Durham in general is treated like a desperate person that can't get a date and wants to accept the first offer to the dance. We are better than that!
a whole lot more housing is going to be lost to the Alston Ave. widening than to the EEC.
i'm not a PAC1 resident, but i will say that as a member of the EEC ad hoc committee, i have learned that people's initial positions are often not carved in stone.
The NECD group saw the story in the paper that the city was considering canceling the project because it wasn't cycling and pedestrian-friendly enough. To the people who live there this sounds like outsiders imposing their values on them. The message they're getting is "Let them ride bikes" or even worse "Let them walk".
As for pressuring the NCDOT, good luck. They get hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, and letters every day begging them to move road projects up the priority list. Nothing is stopping the city from taking back Alston Ave and doing whatever they want with it.
Alston Avenue Commuter
Impose what values- that kids should be able to more safely cross the street to get to Eastway or Long Meadow? I do not believe that people in eastern Durham don't care about that; certainly, all of my friends who live in eastern Durham are worried about that.
I think this internecine us vs. them rhetoric is incredibly unproductive. The 'them' in this case is NCDOT. I understand that the fear is that economic investment needed in eastern Durham will be lost. But that need not be the case - this design is just bad. Does anyone feel like Fayetteville/ Elizabeth St. between Piedmont and Holloway have 'revitalized' Edgemont or Cleveland-Holloway? Yeah - there is no traffic problem on that street. Great.
We've been through this in the 1960s and 1970s. Don't you think the Durham Freeway was built because it was going to bring economic revitalization to a floundering downtown Durham? It doesn't work. Freeway-izing moribund communities makes them worse, not better. It has happened again and again.
Individuals pressuring NCDOT is not the same as a city/county/MPO pressuring NCDOT. But I agree that, now that the county is allowed to build roads again, taking over Alston locally may be the best idea.
achybreakyback -
These ideas were brought up earlier in the process, both in the community meetings and the public hearing.
It's easy to stripe bike lanes and add street furniture/trees, etc. The killer for me (literally) are the 6 lane intersections with the splayed corners. Dedicated right turn lanes with flattened corners = people turning right on red at high speed.
GK
I wonder if a better alternative would be to redirect funds to NCDOT project U-4446, the replacement of the pedestrian brdige over 147. The DOT site says "under construction, but the "U" at the beginning usually signifies "unfunded."
It would keep the money in the neighborhood, at least.
Three points:
1. When you say that building 147 did not help downtown revitalization, you are dead on. Not only that, but the present state of affairs was predicted before 147 was finished. When Charles Markham ran for mayor in the 1970's he said that the proposed East-West Expressway would hurt downtown Durham. Despite all the boosters talking about our recent progress, it is very hard to say that downtown is better now than it was then. I'm afraid that we're constructing destination malls (American Tobacco and West Village) and calling it a downtown. Look at the pictures on the MLK post from 1968, and tell me that downtown Durham doesn't look more vibrant then than it is now.
2. You are absolutely right about the dangers to pedestrians of wide roads. I live on Club Blvd., and can take my life in my hands trying to cross it to get to the greenway, even when I'm crossing with the pedestrian crosslight. Widening of Alston should not be done just with the aim of allowing vehicles to move as fast as possible.
3. Uplift East Durham is having some open houses this weekend. Might you do a post or two this week to spotlight some houses there and publicize the event?
I was indeed sad that the PAC1 was not talking about Crime but about the widening project. However, I am quite glad to know that as a resident of PAC1 all I have to do is show up with my copy of Robert's Rules of Order in order to speak and point out when people are breaking the rules.
Everyone in PAC1 is not in favor. Quite frankly I do not understand how an organization that meets once a month (3rd saturday Eastway Elementary) and does not advertise within neighborhoods can proport to be THE VOICE of the East End.
The Alston Ave project is on the drawing board because NCDOT's computers told them that there were too many accidents and too much traffic on that stretch of the road compared to similar roads in North Carolina. They don't care about economic revitalization, nor should they.
The people I know in that part of town are wondering why when similar work was done on Erwin Rd around Duke, nobody in the city government was threatening to stop the work because it wasn't pedestrian and cycling friendly enough. A legitimate question in my view.
As for the Durham Expressway, some fools might have thought it was meant to revitalize downtown Durham (which was already dead except for government offices), but its real purpose was to connect Duke with the Research Triangle Park and the airport. Everyone knew this at the time and I congratulate the leaders of that era for their foresight.
Some people still seem to think that a segregated business district along Fayetteville St. (Hayti) would have survived the integration of commerce in the 1960s. None of the other segregated districts did.
Put yourself back in 1960. Durham's a tobacco town 6 years after the Surgeon General's first warning about smoking. You have a college and hospital on the west side of town that the Federal Government writes bigger and bigger checks to every year to do research. Where do you think the future is?
The 39,000 jobs at Duke as of 2008 tells me they made the right decisions.
Alston Ave Commuter
Because no one managed to stop Erwin Road from being a bleak pedestrian hazard we should lie still and think of traffic on Alston? Since I used to have to cross Erwin back when the Freeway dumped into it by Sam's Quik Shop, I can tell you that there were, and still are, very many people unhappy with Erwin Road. Why would you want Erwin Road to run next to an Elementary School? Out of 'fairness'?
You are correct that NCDOT does not think of economic revitalization, and I agree with you that they shouldn't be thinking out it. It's everyone else that is thinking some big pipeline of asphalt is going to save their neighborhood from poverty. It won't. No company is going to bring jobs to East Durham because you have more turn lanes on Alston.
The only thing NCDOT thinks about are Level of Service numbers - for intersections and roadway. That's it. It's insufficient, particularly through the middle of a neighborhood. Read what I am writing - we can meet the LOS NCDOT requires with a better design, that improves vehicular capacity, improves vehicular safety AND doesn't create a hostile roadway for pedestrians. It isn't an issue to fairness to note that there is heavy public transportation usage and pedestrian transport in East Durham. It's a fact - why jeopardize their safety - your safety, my safety.
I don't think the Durham Freeway was responsible for the growth of the Duke medical/research complex any more than it was responsible for the economic decline of any neighborhood commercial districts/downtown. Downtown was far from dead when the freeway was being planned, and even when the first segments were being built in '67. Downtown died because of outmigration to places not served by the Durham Freeway - rather to southern Durham (and northern.) The freeway wasn't as much of a stupid idea as urban renewal, which is what really destroyed downtown/Hayti - the place, rather than the jobs. The freeway shoulders the majority of the blame for destroying the institutions of Hayti, when it was far more complex.
You should look up some 1960s planning documents before you commend anyone for their foresight - downtown was going to a shining oasis of big 40 story glass towers, after all.
But my point is that we agree, even if you don't want to agree - Alston Avenue needs to be improved. It's a bad road. It needs to be a better road. I accept that it's going to need to be widened to 4 lanes. What I don't accept are 6 lane intersections, wide turning radii, and a 14 foot wide, unstriped outer lane. Why fight for these things? They aren't good practice, and NCDOT's own contexual design folks know it. They've told me that they don't know what happened to the design for this road, except that the engineers ignored what came out of the CD process.
So if NCDOT won't build a decent road, we should send them away and build it ourselves. I'll pay more taxes for an Alston Avenue that doesn't look and function like the remainder of NC55 down by Carpenter and Apex.
GK
Endangered Durham? The danger to Durham is sprawling and poor planning. NCDOT has been branded as unyielding by the City to cover its own failures at road improvements. The Fayetteville/ Elizabeth streets widening was a City project, so lay the blame where it rightly belongs--on the city.
If NCDOT's contextual design folk don't know what happened to the design for Alston, perhaps the answer may lie in the city's letters to NCDOT from 2003 to 2007 in which they offered "numerous comments on the project." I pray those "comments" were not the bird brain ideas that led to the Fayetteville/ Elizabeth disaster.
We need to dissolve (1) the notion of the "us vs. them" and (2) the label of "them" as the NCDOT. The agency has patiently waited for the community to come to a consensus (doesn't sound unyielding to me). The road needs to be widened. My preference--4 regular lanes, no center lane, no turn lane, no bike lanes.
Finally, we need to stop labeling people simply because we disagree with their position. There is plenty of blame to spread and it begins with all of us who won't live without our vehicles (2-4 a family) and they got bigger and better with the roll-out of the SUV's and trips to "the" mall. WE endangered our city, now WE complain because roads have to be expanded to accommodate our lifestyles? Someone complained about Guess, Roxboro, and all the other roads, but do you want the traffic just sitting still emitting smog in the city? We can't have it both ways. You can't eat your cake and have it, too! We can't have ALL our cars and keep our two little lane roads.
Regarding comments about PAC1, Melvin Whitley and others. These volunteers do an excellent job. They send out a mailing by U.S. postal service and email the notice other members. It’s easy to criticize when you don't know what's going on. There's more planned for District 1 and NECD than just Alston Avenue, but you wouldn't know that if you just show up with a personal agenda. If you want to know how the organization is doing, check out Councilman Clement's remarks at the 2/18 council meeting about the group's Coffee with Council. Second, how would you like to have people come to your meeting (you've never seen them) to shove their opinion down your throat and they think they're entitled to do so. It would never happen at a City Council nor County Commissioners meeting. It would have been better to have had such dialogue in a neutral setting.
Our best would be to come together, as a community, (give and take) and have a united plan for moving forward. I firmly believe we have the ear of NCDOT, but then we won't know that until we unite--without the name calling, without the characterizations, and without prejudices. I beseech you all to lay aside the differences to move in this direction.
RSS
I'm not sure who and what you are referring to throughout much of your comment - I think we are in agreement on some points, since the main thrust of my argument is that we need to come together. I disagree about 'them' not being NCDOT, as they clearly have rebuffed the input of city staff. I respect Mark Ahrendsen, and I very much doubt that he is lying about the response from NCDOT, which is what you imply.
Who is arguing for two-lane roads?
Agreed that we, poor planning, ever-increasing car demands, etc. are what endangers Durham. I don't know if you looked at the rest of the website, but that's the thrust.
I'm not sure which name-calling you are referring to. If you are referring to my post, I clearly stated that I disagree, and was disappointed with the actions of several people. Is that what you are referring to - same with the "showing up to 'your meeting' with 'their' personal agenda". Who are you referring to? Why was it your meeting? And why are other PAC 1 residents 'they'? This seems very us vs. them.
I'll reiterate that the large area of Durham east of Roxboro and Dillard is comprised of many different neighborhoods, and no small group of unelected people speak for all of those neighborhoods/ neighborhood organizations. Nonetheless, we'd be better served by having a broad community input process in the Alston Avenue design, because 6-lane intersections are abominable urban design.
Feel free to clarify if you wish.
GK
Gary:
Were these your descriptive words/phrases? Frankenstein, second-class citizen (assuming Whitley saw pedestrians as such), thoroughfare north, economic/racial issue, sign, tenor of the PA meeting, massive expenditure vs. final product, NCDOT is the problem, they draw a hard line to get people to blink, dubious claim, against the East End Connector, but support Alston, etc., etc. It could be that I support both. You used those words so you know exactly who and what I'm referring to so let's not dance around the allegations.
The PAC meeting, from what I gathered, was to share with members the latest developments; it got to a vote because 20 people who'd never attended showed up and forced this. Mind you, except for two, the rest don't serve on any committees and don't do any work for the PAC, and haven't showed up since. That's what makes it a us vs. them. Then one of the bloggers makes the insulting comment that just showing up and knowing Roberts Rules are the only requirements. For the record, the Police Department drafted the bylaws for the PAC; it's wasn't our call.
So if no one small group of unelected people can speaks for all the neighborhoods, why does Uplift East Durham feel that it can? At least PAC1 represents neighborhoods and residents from Taylor Street to Grove Park and several churches starting at downtown Durham. You could say we already have a "broad community input" process.
I hope you take a closer look at some of the comments on this blog, but take off your rose colored glasses when you do. There's an underlying perception that if one supports the project they are lacking in intelligence.
Regarding Mark Ahrendsen, check out the correspondences from 2003-2007 and let's first determine what the city's suggestions were. Again, my preference is 4 regular lanes--no center lane, no turn lanes, no bikes lanes (and I'll add), no parking lanes.
Here at the end, I apologize for the tone of this response, but to move forward, this subtle, opinionate perception of others has to stop. When we come to the table, we have to come with the earnest desire to do what's best for the community and respecting the viewpoint of others.
Best regards,
I'd like to know how Phillip Barron can compare the Richmond, Va picture (before) that was part of his article in today's Herald Sun to Alston Avenue. It looks like some country town in Eastern North Carolina and is a false analogy because Alston has NEVER had such minimal vehicular traffic. This is certainly fantacy land. As I've said before, a broad range of ideas will yield the best plan.
RRS
Never is a long time - you should read the rest of this site.
But to your point - I see you've been persuaded of the joy in using colorful adjectives to describe ideas you disagree with. You go. I happen to agree with the position you've adopted by your third sentence, though - a diversity of designs is a good thing. Phillip's point is that it is possible to create a street that isn't a threat to pedestrians, cyclists, etc. I'm not sure how you could tell anything about the traffic capacity or Level of Service from a rendering, but I'll grant you that it's likely the design he put there wouldn't handle the same traffic capacity that the monstrous NCDOT intersections would. But we can come up with a design that uses elements that we know create a functional streetscape rather than the single bleak highway design offered by NCDOT. He's shown one way in which that can be accomplished; I don't understand the objection to that. Help me understand - do you want Alston to look like NC 55 down by Cornwallis and Carpenter Fletcher? You've already stated that you support a more minimal design than the NCDOT design - why don't you want to push the design towards what you say you support? My biggest objection is to the 6-lane intersections - if we eliminate turn lanes, as you suggest, we have 4 lane intersections - sounds good to me. You can always stripe a bike lane or add street trees later - shrinking the intersections would be nigh impossible. I'm thinking that we actually agree that NCDOT's design is something we both oppose - no?
GK
I stumbled upon your blog by mistake, actually; so in all honesty, I didn't read the rest of the site. Just the caption, "Alston Ave Update: Supported by NECD group" which is not exactly true. Your blog carries that undertone--some truth, but not the entire truth, so I guess I'll just stumble out and support the NCDOT design.
Right. This article referred to the support given by the NECD Leadership Committee, as reported in the Herald-Sun. Not PAC1, as you've assumed. That meeting occurred after this article was written.
But despite the high-minded rhetoric you came in here with, you've done nothing but cast vague aspersions. Rather than engaging in any meaningful discussion about the roadway design, it seems you've already decided that we have no common ground.
If I were truly interested in somehow alloying the truth, I'd delete all of your comments and replace them with ones more supportive of my position. Sounds kind of like how people have described the PAC1 meeting, though. I think I'll continue to allow a diversity of opinion; sometimes people do use the access to engage in a more substantive discussion.
Stumble away; for your sake, I just hope you don't stumble into an NCDOT-designed Alston Avenue.
GK
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