Dear Editor:
The rays of spring sunshine have illuminated how much Washington Street’s surface has become pocked-marked due to age, harsh weather, salt, and the current replacement of gas line pipes. Coming next will be the long-overdue replacement of Washington Street’s antiquated water pipes. At the March 4 City Council meeting, United Water “advised the city that the 100-year-old mains had to be replaced before Washington Street is resurfaced lest the milling work triggers an increase in main breaks.” Unfortunately, until all the water pipes are replaced, we are going to have to wait about a year and a half before the city will be able to repave the street.
Plans are in place to spruce up Washington Street with a Complete Streets Redesign which was, as of last October, estimated to cost $14 million. All along I have insisted that the infrastructure must be corrected before any new elements are added to Washington Street.
I wrote seven letters describing many of the proposed changes to Washington Street and I do have some suggestions.
I believe, because of the convex nature of the street going east and west, that the road surface should be made more level to help alleviate the pooling of water on the west side of the street. I also believe that adding water drains in the middle of each street, at the west side curb, would help to reduce the current pooling of rainwater at both ends of each block.
I think that putting bike paths on each side of the street, one going north and one going south, would be less traumatic for the car traffic, bus riders, and delivery trucks since the proposed redesign would put both bike lanes together into a single track on the west side, reducing the width of Washington Street by about 10 feet.
I don’t believe it is wise to add curb extensions, since that will further reduce the width of the traffic lanes, and the resulting maneuvering of large vehicles will cause traffic delays.
I believe that the bus stop sheds should not have open sides as proposed since protection is needed from the elements of strong winds and rain.
Morris Columns, which are round bulletin board structures (effectively used in Europe and Russia) should replace the remaining five ugly, tilting, bulletin boards that are left standing downtown. They should be erected all along Washington Street so that residents can post notices of city events, art shows, and other announcements on the unique curved surface and the interior of these structures could effectively hide and shield electrical street equipment.
The street lights should be higher and arc-like in nature, pulling away from the many residential windows that line Washington Street. This would result in fewer light poles needed to light Washington Street, eliminating unnecessary structural clutter.
Washington Street will always be crowded with parked and traveling cars. Any redesign of the street should reflect this continuing reality.
Mary Ondrejka