Why is the design team and staff so behind? Why does this seem so last minute? Can we have more parking?!
Before the Mayor displays any further indignation as to why the design team and city staff brought details for the TIGER Grant funded remake of Main Street so late, or the City Council and public find blame, let's look at the last year and see how we got here.
In June 2012 the city was awarded the $4.7 M TIGER Grant to improve transportation on Main Street. This was reported in Concord Patch on 6/19/2012 and the Concord Monitor 6/20/2012. At the end of September, Mayor Bouley announced the 17 member Committee on 9/25/2012, fourteen weeks later, and instructed them to consider all options, except reducing parking.
The Committee met for the first time on 9/27/2012 with the Chair confirming Mayor Bouley's expectation they not reduce parking. They formally met 14 times over seven weeks through 11/15/12. A NH Listens event took place on 11/7/2012. The Committee presented their final report dated 11/16/2012 to the City Council on 11/26/2012, eight and a half weeks after they first met.
At the City Council meeting 11/26/12 four public hearing type design review meetings were planned (December 18th, January 15th, March 12th and April 16th) as well as two City Council Public Hearings (February 11th and May 13th). At the May 13th, 2013 Council Meeting, 23 weeks later, Mayor Bouley expressed is indignation with the designers and staff that more detail was not available,
No doubt there were approvals to be made, documents to sign and paperwork to be taken care of in the time between award in mid June and the start of the 17 member Committee work in late September. Nonetheless more than three months were taken out on the front end of the project planning time. To scold the design team and staff at the May 13th, 2013 City Council Meeting for not being prepared with all the details strikes me as arrogance, with no measure of the role the Mayor, himself, played in this.
Let's back up
The City Engineer took the Re-Thinking Main Street Design as well as the Langley Parkway North expansion and applied for TIGER Grant transportation funding (Concord Monitor 11/12/2011) - both were denied. The City Engineer adjusted the application for Main Street to make it a Complete Streets solution and applied for TIGER Grant transportation funding a second time - which was approved (Concord Patch 6/19/2012). Mayor Bouley, merchants, and the 17 member Committee have focused on parking primarily - the storage of vehicles.The City Engineer applied for transportation funding while the Mayor is focused on storage of automobiles. Further, Mayor Bouley placed the project in jeopardy by taking fourteen weeks out of the front end.
Legacy
History will show how the city did and what the legacy of Mayor Bouley will be. Just as the razed 1885 train station represents loss of opportunity, reduced livability and increased parking, Main Street in the 21st century will represent lost opportunity, limited livability and parking.Media Links
Definitions (Google)
transportation
Noun
1. The action of transporting someone or something or the process of being transported.
2. A system or means of transporting people or goods.
transporting present participle of trans·port (Verb)
Verb
1. Take or carry (people or goods) from one place to another by means of a vehicle, aircraft, or ship.
2. Cause (someone) to feel that they are in another place or time.
parking present participle of park (Verb)
Verb
1. Bring (a vehicle that one is driving) to a halt and leave it temporarily, typically in a parking lot or by the side of the road.
2. Deposit and leave in a convenient place until required: "park your bag by the door".
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