MyWHaT

ACTION: Contact MDOT and State Reps about 8th St.

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Hermann Knoflacher's “Walkmobile”--how much space does your car take up? (via World Streets)

A lot of drama this week.  It’s useful to be reminded to Practice Empathy. In particularly when we are offering our support to those who might not share our view.

The Chatter:

• Record Eagle editorial adds little to the 8th Street Debate But…
• The comments on the Mayor’s Epistle and 9&10′s coverage are amusing
  

• “Fewer cars = Healthier kids“
• “20 mph zones” = reduced crashes
  
• What we can learn from Portland “They never stop thinking about the actual walking experience”
• And, they did just pass a 2030 Bike plan with a $20 $613 million commitment
• New York is recycling parking meters into bike racks
• And Broadway’s public space car-free status made permanent
• Another argument for Intentional Design –> Bicycle Cities
• Question of Nixing the Gas Tax for a Miles Tax is raised…(I have reservations)

And, can little towns like Traverse City join the revolutionary trend?

• Detroit declares it’s intentions: We the people…
• A Declaration of Interdependence between cities
• And the The Montréal Charter is revolutionary, if it holds.
  

The Montréal Charter is a guide for municipally-based citizenship that is as leading-edge as all get out… Dimitri Roussopoulos’ description of the charter sums it up on Think City:

“There is no other document I know of where, in a very self-effacing way, a political body says ‘I recognize my obligation to you. This is not an electoral platform. This is not a politician standing before you in an election promising this, that and the other thing. The most important contribution of the Charter is that it is a document in which a city government says my obligations to you are A, B, C, spelling them out in a concrete fashion and providing citizens with a very clear path of recourse, if they have an issue or concern.” –Roussopoulos’ is the Director Vancouver based  Urban Ecology Centre.

After the 8th Street Kerfuffle, this sounds very appealing.

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NOTE: Tune into AM-580, WTCM’s Ron Jolly this morning at 9:20. The editor of MyWHaT (that’s me) will be on air to discuss 8th Street, Complete Streets and how to train a beagle…OK, maybe I’ll leave the last one out.

A Complete Street approach to the 2010 8th Street project is not out of the realm of possibilities. Despite the varying degrees of urgency down at city hall–from the code-red approach by Mayor Chris Bzdok to the Pluto-cold approach of city manager Ben Bifoss–there are cards being played on the city’s behalf.

The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce’s Doug DeYoung is actively trying to arrange a meeting with both the city and the executive director of MDOT, Kirk Steudle. MDOT is the key. They can sign off  to a “change of order” to allow for some creative designs to make 8th St. a complete street without major widening of the footprint (the TART concept widens only a 400 +/- foot section).

“This is a Grand Vision corridor,” DeYoung said in a telephone call yesterday, referring to the corridors of significance identified in the Grand Vision. “We’re using every opportunity to make 8th a complete street. It’s crucial if we are going to be a great community like other great places.”

In addition to arguing to begin implementing the Grand Vision, which the Chamber has a big stake in, the chamber is in an obviously strong position to argue for action for threat of losing the stimulus money (MDOT has already lost access to plenty) and that Michigan can’t afford to lose the jobs associated with this project.

So, what can we do?

Our Lansing representatives need to hear our message of support for doing everything possible to secure the funds and secure a change of order to do it right. Ask MDOT to allow the city to redesign the 2010 8th Street project as a complete street. Contact MDOT’s executive director and the regional office to urge them to meet with the mayor and city manager. And, as one reader mentioned, you might as well let president Obama know that the federal stimulus he sent out is at risk of being used unwisely.

Click through to contact via homepage forms:

Also, CC the City Commission on these letters. They need to know that even if they aren’t actively persuing & supporting the city’s options, that we are. They can either step it up and show some urgency to fix a problem that happened on their watch or they can get out of the way.

And, pass this on to encourage others to write in as well…

How is the Adopt and Support a Commissioner program going?

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