View Larger Map
Some have said that this will improve our downtown flow to and from the Farmers Market. I wasn't aware that the Farmers' Market was a difficult place to access; I thought their problem was the suspect out-of-town produce...but I digress.
For those of us that actually live downtown and have to drive to work, driving north on Chavez is the best thing going. It's one of the few downtown streets (Commerce being the other) on which the traffic lights are mostly (!) in sync and traffic moves well. If you don't believe me, try going north on some the other streets and report back (*cough* Ervay*cough*).
As far as travelling into the city, a cheaper alternative would be to put a few thousand bucks each into improving the traffic light timing on streets like St. Paul and Akard. It's cheaper and will do the job until the Chavez part of downtown develops more. Got some time to kill? Wait until about 5pm, go south on St. Paul and try to make it through downtown. Pack a lunch or at least a Snickers to combat hunger as you stop at every single traffic light.
This expansion is not going to add walkabilty; what it does add is more issues for downtown pedestrians. This is one of the few travel options that makes walking from Downtown Dallas to Deep Ellum palatable; bonus points for not having to play human Frogger to get to LaGrange, The Door, or the soon-to-be open Il Cane Rosso. The definition of human Frogger can be easily found by taking the train to the Park Lane station and trying to make it to NorthPark on foot. I've done it, and I felt like I owe Nike a bit of thanks for my trusty Air Max running shoes for postponing my demise (if they ever make a fourth Jason Bourne movie, I'm ready).Is that what we want downtown? Just some friendly musings from a person that likes to walk around these parts.
1 comment:
You are spot on with every part of this article.
Steve. www.welivedowntown.com
Post a Comment