Car Culture Advocacy is Strong
At one time or another we are all pedestrians. Nonetheless Car Culture is very strong in Concord with vocal advocacy from many residents and business owners. Leadership it seems is responding. Although the Pedestrian Master Plan is being developed (Sunday 12/11/16 Concord Monitor) it may soon reside with other Master Plan Policies with little impact by itself. Without persuasive community advocacy to implement the recommendations, the Master Plans will remain conceptual as ideas in a book. To become real they will need community support.
Main Street and Loudon Road are recent examples of Master Planning ignored. Many City Councilors and Mayor Bouley have heard from Car Culture advocates and as lobbyist the Mayor continues to make Car Culture strong along with City Council. The leaders of Concord will continue to work to keep Car Culture in place unless residents advocate for different solutions. Master Plans alone are insufficient.
Livability
A frequent pedestrian and cyclist I also drive infrequently. I prefer a more modest Car Culture and instead advocate Livability. In the words of the former US Secretary of Transportatoin Ray Lahood,
"Livability means being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or Post Office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids at the park -- all without having to get in your car"
Sidewalks shaded from the sun and green planting strips to buffer traffic in summer or for winter snow are my desire lines.
When Concord streets are redesigned without, they continue a dreadful pedestrian experience of missed opportunities on our commons.
When Concord streets are redesigned without, they continue a dreadful pedestrian experience of missed opportunities on our commons.
Choice
Cycling is now my year round transportation choice leaving a car ignored most of the time. As a late baby boomer my legs are strong, knees no longer ache going up stairs and I feel more robust than ever. Instead of driving close to 10,000 miles a year as in 2012, I've clocked under 1,400 miles for 2016. Car ownership including registration, inspection and insurance fees are now 85% of the cost. Meanwhile the car sits alone 99% of the time. Perhaps I could live without the burden. My physical balance is better than ever as are my savings.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend my choices for many others due to the dangers in Car Culture. In communities with infrastructure to support safe cycling, the choice is simple. But alas this is not the case in Concord. It's dangerous and recent decisions regarding Main Street and Loudon Road will not improve the situation.
On Main Street the front in angle parking is dangerous as it places cyclists at the rear where drivers cannot see clearly. The mode excludes many of the would be cyclists just as it did in 2012. There is an inexpensive fix that would require drivers to back into parking. A 21st Century idea made easy with back up cameras now required on new vehicles.
On Loudon Road the pedestrian death by accident on Halloween, 2016 is indicative of the dangers. The recent refusal to reconfigure the Loudon Road diet to three lanes continues the danger for pedestrians and renders it unusable to many would be cyclists.
Parking First - and free!
Motor vehicle needs are a priority in Concord -- parKing must be considered first.
For the Downtown Complete Streets Improvement Project Mayor Bouley directed the advisory committee to transform Main Street but not parking ("Bouley has promised that the project will not eliminate parking spaces Panel takes on Main St. overhaul: 17 members must deliver by Nov. 16 -By Laura McCrystal / Monitor staff, September 25, 2012).
After the project started a $108,744 parking study was contracted with Nelson/Nygaard Consulting. The study was delivered in July 2016 as a Strategic Parking Plan. The Parking Committee has been reviewing the plan to provide City Council with a proposal of options to consider. Mayor Bouley has been a frequent guest at the Parking Committee meetings attending the Oct 6, 13, 20, 27 and Nov 9 meetings. On Nov 9, Mayor Bouley asked what would happen if the City stopped charging meter fees entirely. Staff produced the pro forma and presented it November 28th.
Free parking will require transfers from the General Fund estimated at $1.2M (11/28/2016 Parking Committee) which translates to a 3.2% City municipal tax increase. As if spending monies on the parking study study ($108,744) were not enough, and burying overhead utilities for two blocks at the coop ($2.5M City Council August 9, 2013 Agenda Item 50) is not enough. Not to mention the cost and lost opportunity of building the parking in the first place.
Parking can be free on the street or in a garage - right?
Priorities
Is our community really improved by these expenditures? If we considered the Master Plan for our community what could we afford for instead. Imagine the number of trees and green space that could be planted and maintained throughout the city. Perhaps sidewalks for pedestrians could be shaded in the summer and plowed in the winter.
Building livability means creating infrastructure for all modes of transportation. Fixing Loudon Road so all can be safe crossing the road to get to church or the $6.55M $7.1M (CIP 446) Community Center is achievable. Implementing back in angle parking on Main Street requires a bit of repainting. Planting and maintaining perhaps 20,000 trees instead of burying a couple blocks of overhead utilities on Main Street ($2.5M) could have been prioritized.
The Pedestrian Master Plan is a place to start but the plans alone are insufficient. Without a community voice, your voice, these will just be words and pictures on a page. If your City Councilor and the Mayor hear only from the Car Culture perspective that is what we will have. You can change that.