Whither A State Of Transportation?

Sometimes it is quite difficult to determine on what subject I want to write and at other times the subject just leaps at me. Lately I have been reading about the transportation situation facing us locally and nationally and how we will pay for it.

With all of the construction workers out of work will a resumption of the highway building and other major building projects help solve the unemployment problem? Will spending more money on highways prove sensible while Americans are driving less and the younger generation is buying fewer automobiles?

Back at the end of March, the architecture critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer Inga Saffron, posited that perhaps we American's are a bit too haphazard about how we allocate our transportation funds. We tend to push for lane and intersection improvements to some of our arterial streets in Lexington, huge Interstate interchanges in downtown Louisville, and massive new bridge projects in Cincinnati and Louisville. But, when it comes to any sort of mass transit style proposal the masses go all livid about the freedoms of movement and choice which will be infringed.

Highway funding is becoming increasingly tight, in part because Congress and States are unwilling to raise the gasoline tax on steadily rising fuel prices. The American Society of Civil Engineers believe that we are so far behind on infrastructure repairs that they recently gave an overall D+ to the conditions of our nation's bridges and roads. One must realize that it is in the best interest of the ASCE to chase new construction projects for their members. I personally feel that this grade is not from design and age, but from simple overuse of a “free”amenity.

Around the same time, a writer for the Washington Post revealed that the famous Capital Beltway was slowly dying beneath the turning wheels of about a quarter-million cars a day. As they called it, “turning to mush”before their eyes. In what sounds like an excerpt from one of our Council work sessions, “... the older base layers under the asphalt, the surface is not able to absorb the pounding the way it used to...” was used to describe the continuing situation.

I don't believe that the Beltway or any of our primary arterial roadways will die, but they will need to be relieved of much of the stress to which we put them. U.S. drivers, and the commerce on which they rely, are riding on baby-boom-generation roadways, which like us boomers ourselves are no longer so steady and sound. Nearly a third of the nation’s major roads currently need significant repair or replacement, with a far higher percentage in the busiest urban areas, to meet the demand now placed on them.

Bad roads are partly a cause of sticker creep at the checkout aisle, just as the the cost of fixing them is about to cause sticker shock at the gas pump. Delays and bad roads add to the $25 billion in goods delivered nationwide every day which is naturally added to price tags at supermarkets and department stores.

Many state's officials see roads that need replacement and highways that need to be expanded. They cite statistics which show vehicle travel jumped by 39 percent from 1990 to 2008. Despite an acknowledged decline in vehicle miles traveled over the past 5 years, the forecast is to increase another 35 percent by 2030. 

Add to all of the above the comments I heard at the forum on climate change held last week at the University of Kentucky. 

In his presentation on looking for “Free-Enterprise Approaches to Energy Security and Climate Change.”, Bob Inglis, former U.S. representative from South Carolina, expressed his thoughts that sometime, in the near future, we will be traveling the highways in packs of high-speed, robot driven and individually powered vehicles.

According to one description that I have read, this would be a whole new world of cars are packed nose to tail traveling at speeds in excess of current limits. They will weave their way through unmarked junctions, with no traffic lights. Lane markings are non-existent, and stretches of road may switch from being one-way in one direction, to the opposite, with no warning. Perhaps most alarming of all, very few of the “occupants” have even passed a driving test. I see more similarities of riding high speed rail in this than shopping for the family car.

This sounds like Utopia if it occurs out on the open highway lie an Interstate, but do we want this in our urban areas and residential streets? Just when we have made good gains in taking back the streets (Complete Streets planning) from the free-wheeling autos, will we have to redouble our efforts again?

From my personal experience of Interstate driving, I am either passing the casual drivers and the revenue generating long-haul truckers or being passed by, largely singly occupied, long distance commuters, but the common theme is that, unless it is rush hour, we all have plenty of room. 

Efficiency and logic should dictate that these packs of robotic driven vehicles be composed of like vehicles. Trucks with trucks, SUVs with SUVs, single occupants with single occupants on down the line. Also considered should be the fuel and maintenance compatibilities of those allowed in each pack. Sounds like it may be simpler to take the train.

Such vehicles may be much more aware of their own positions and of those vehicles around them, but they also need to be aware of all other animate objects before they are allowed to roam our residential streets. I would worry less about the auto leaving the street than I would about the random child/toy or the stray pet/wild animal entering the roadway.

But, let us assume that all of these possibilities are accounted for and that there will be NO accidents (Yeah, I laughed at that also). If there are no accidents, then there is no one at fault and there is no need for insurance. Norm McDonald, Flo and that Allstate guy will have to join the gecko in the audition line for work. Darryl the “Heavy Hitter” and all of those other law firms will have to fight over the remaining legal claims.

Making further assumptions, I see all of the auto dealers trying to differentiate their models from the other mundane “hop in and let the robot have all of the fun” vehicles out there. There will be no “thrill of the open road” if all are running in packs and we are watching the scenery flying by. The “sports car handling” so familiar to the earliest baby boomers and lacking on most all SUVs and trucks will not be a selling feature unless you are buying antiques.

I worry that the free enterprise of this will inflate the ranks of the unemployed while not solving the infrastructure cost dilemma. Young people are driving less, automobiles are costing more (both initially and over their lifetimes) and the real-time level of wages is stagnant so who will be able to afford such extravagances? And will the roads be there upon which to use them?

Are Sidewalks The Road To Improvement?

Downtown has seen a lot of effort and money spent on it in the past few years. So much so, it seems like we should be looking at other areas in which to share the wealth but there is only so much wealth to go around. Still, somebody should be doing something.

Well, there are other neighborhoods which are doing something, whether with the government's help or without it. I feel that the role of government is to do those things that the people cannot or will not do for themselves. Public safety is one thing but building, repairing or clearing sidewalks is quite another.

The Main St,Vine St and South Limestone streetscape improvements clearly demonstrate the worth of making said improvements and now the Southland Dr area folks are working toward sidewalks there. Our history of auto-centric development has allowed many shopping centers built from the '50s up through the '90s to be devoid of any walking facilities of any kind. The original developers are long gone and the sidewalks need to be built, but it should not fall to the government to fund the lions share. Even in the name of public safety.

The sidewalks at your home, both the one in front of your house and the one which leads to your front door, are a focus of the curb appeal which welcome friends and family into your home. They are a big part of a first impression.

Many houses built in the last few decades seem to have walks which only go to the front driveway and appear to shun anyone who may not drive. Visitors who have to park on the street, either because the host  cannot get their autos in the garage or they have invited far more friends than they have space for, by necessity still have to use the driveway. Even the next door neighbor has to use the driveway.

I believe that by not tending to the care and upkeep of the sidewalk on or abutting ones property, one is showing utter disregard to their neighbors and, probably, to society as a whole. It is also not government's job to remind you to maintain the walks for the good of all, or to maintain them in your stead. I think that we can all agree that there are better places to apply their limited funds.

To a similar degree, the sidewalks in neighborhood shopping areas should be a large part of the curb appeal to the shops and restaurants there. Once again it should be a part of the welcoming feeling of approaching a friendly environment. Why else do you think that the office parks, despite their seas of parking, have lavish landscaping around the doorways?

When it comes to the larger “planned” shopping centers like the malls and their counterparts, it looks like the “planning” went right out the window. There may be sidewalks along the approaching roadways but getting to the entryways is strictly through the vehicular area and its many obstacles. Try walking from any of the residential areas around the Fayette Mall or Hamburg to any of their popular stores and see how comfortable you are. You might live close but the Walkscore is atrocious.

Lexington's best location for walking, with a walkscore of 85, is the downtown area. Origins and destinations within a reasonable distance, though not all of the origins are residential in nature and good availability of walking paths to take. But I wonder what the score would be if they took proper surface maintenance and simple daily cleaning/litter control into account.

Have you looked, really looked at some of our sidewalk conditions just a block or two off of the revitalized Main and Vine? What about the cross streets which connect them; Limestone, Upper, Market and Broadway which have remained untouched. Many of the sections of pavement are cracked and flaking, or the former tree wells are disintegrating and bulging. Litter and broken glass from beverage bottles are frequent sights.

I have said before that the way we use our public spaces is generally appalling and in some cases the abusers are just human pigs, but really folks don't you think that we can do better? We have a dedicated crew to police the heavily used spaces and it is the ordained responsibility of the downtown property owner/property manager to take care of the rest, but I don't think that they do that good of a job of it.

Government has the obligation to take care of the roadways and keep them in a safe and orderly manner and they have the power to enforce that the sidewalks be held to the same conditions. From where does this obvious disconnect arise? When and where was the ball dropped?

These sidewalks are the focus of our downtown curb appeal and we are allowing them to peel and fade like a bad paint job on our finest houses. When are we going to bring our downtown up to the standard where it should be? If the merchants and property owners will not maintain them, should the government do the job? Maybe yes, but the cost should be borne by those who have refused to do it themselves and not spread across the community as a whole. Or the whole nation by using Federal funds to do the job.

I think that it should be the community's desire to make our entire city into a walkers paradise, where every neighborhood has someplace attainable by walking and safe ways of getting there. It will take effort and commitment, but most likely, a change in attitude.

If it doesn't start with downtown, then the neighborhoods should start it but it need to start somewhere. I have pointed our some beginning places and I know that there are others, if you do also then lets get to work on it. 

The sooner the better.

21c And The Road Ahead

It was about a month ago that I wrote about our possibility of getting a boutique hotel along the lines of a 21c in- of all places – the old First National Building.

This morning, the main headline of the Herald-Leader was the announcement of just such thing. The 21c corporation has signed on the dotted line to purchase the 3 parcels and put in motion a request of the Urban County Council for tax incentives and federal grants for this $38 million project. They may even request a TIF district of the state, though it is unclear what properties it may include or what public infrastructure needs be built.

My friend over at Kaintuckeen quoted Mayor Gray as calling it the “worst kept secret in Lexington” but this is the latest of such proposals made for this building and the only one to actually make it into the media.

You see, this building has a number of issues which may hold any redevelopment at bay. The First National Building is on the National Register as a site and as part of the Downtown Commercial District. For as much good as any such listing has afforded some other properties, after the CentrePointe controversy, our local folks would put a major fuss should undue alterations be proposed.

Any conversion of this century old building will necessitate new fire rating and sprinklers and an alternate method of egress, a fire escape. The previous proposals included various ways of accomplishing this, but I am told, either our local Historic Preservation or the lending institutions have balked and the plans wafted away like smoke. Like the Melodean Hall situation across the intersection, good new uses proposed for fine old buildings run up against safety and preservation issues which can really complicate matters.

Mayor Gray appears to have worked very hard on convincing folks that a 21c hotel needs to be in Lexington and whether his company is called upon to provide construction assistance or not, his 40 years of business and 6 years of political experience may be put to the test.

Concerning the TIF for 21c, I cannot figure out just how big on an area or just what amount of public improvements can be done in the area. I know that for CentrePointe, the district covers the primary block but also includes the old Court House and Cheapside Park, and the parking lot across W. Short St. The Cheapside work is about ¾ths done but the Lexington History Museum has major work planned. Perhaps the sidewalks and other street improvements could be made to aide the movement along Upper and Short St.

Like the journey of CentrePointe from announcement to completion, this boutique hotel may have more than a few setbacks.

On a lighter note, the people in the restaurant being finished on the corner of Short and Limestone which has a tentative name of Southern Table, tells me that they will open for lunch in the next week or two and for dinner about a week after that. The décor is starkly white on white and the menu is to be California fusion I believe, maybe not new for Lexington but not your usual fare.

With all the new openings on Short St, can it be long before someone calls for some real street work to be done on that section.

I have been trumpeting all of the new places downtown but there have been some closings also. While we were wondering about The Taste of Thai and Sam's Hotdogs since the Webbs bought that property, Giacomo's, with their bright yellow delivery scooter, has been sold and closed without explanation. I will also miss the Good Foods Chapter 2 in the lobby of the library. I don't know the whole story on that either.

I am always open to conversation so lets talk.

Thoughts On This Winter And Beyond

This past winter has been very rough on our streets and the rising gas prices will be even rougher on our wallets in the months (and years) ahead. The state has already announced their pothole repair days along the Interstates but the local roads are really showing signs of deterioration in some locales.

The one spot that comes to mind first is the Avenue of Champions. The portion just west of the Rose St intersection. It always seems to be in a state of collapse into a pothole. One day they will just have to excavate all the subsurface and solve the problem for good.

Elsewhere there are developing problems on Chinoe Rd, in the s-curve south of the traffic light at Lakewood Dr. Boy is it getting rough. Speaking of the Lakewood light, does anybody know why it is still there?

I remember that when I was growing up there was a problem getting out onto Chinoe from the side streets and that there were quite a few residents with power and wealth living there. I am sure that they were the ones who requested and got that light. But times have changed. There are now more ways to get out of the side streets and the traffic on Chinoe is not as intense. So, why is the light still there? Should there not be some mechanism to remove traffic signals like this?

Then there is High St. from Ashland to the center of downtown. Alligatoring of the pavement every so often and some potholes that have formed and been patched, yet are beginning to fail again. I am sure that you know of others around town in the same shape.

The Division of Streets and Roads's budget has taken a big hit this winter with all the salt use and overtime for the drivers. There may be enough to work on the potholes now but the budget for next year is being asked to be trimmed by 4%. Just in time for the petroleum based material sued in roadway repair to rise by double that. At this point we may have to live with failing roads.

Lexington has not left itself in a good position to deal with rising oil prices. We have spread our residential subdivisions far from the supposedly centralized shopping and service providing commercial areas. The occupants of those subdivisions will fight for the services which they believe that they are entitled, but they will want everybody else to help pay for them.

At some point, and I believe it will be soon, we will have to make some very tough choices about where we will live. I think that I have set myself up fairly well but even I will have to make some more sacrifices.

These are some of the topics that we will have to tackle during the next deliberation on the Comprehensive Plan, and that is coming up soon. Sooner than you think.