Keep an eye on this

I've heard, through my participation on the East End Connector ad hoc committee, that negotiations between the city and the state DOT over the proposed Alston Ave. widening had stalled.

Gary's written on more than one occasion about the sheer awfulness of NCDOTs designs for Alston, and he's got an update this weekend. I've casually mentioned how bad the design is once or twice myself.

Ray Gronberg's piece in yesterday's Herald Sun fleshes out the details of the city's opposition. And it's mostly pretty good news, based on concerns over pedestrian safety along a corridor with a high number of pedestrians and pretty poor safety record already, as well as concerns over disruption of the community, primarily over the loss of the only grocery store in the area. Mayor Bell's comments were also, i think, unhelpful. If there's a "public relations" problem over the staff's position, that's precisely where the mayor's office should be the most helpful.

Here's why this needs watching.

Nobody disputes that the numbers show that Alston Ave. is already carrying more traffic than it's rated for. And the projections, even taking into into account the beneficial effects of the East End Connector in reducing traffic volumes on surface streets, show traffic is going to be 40% or so higher over the next decade and a half.

The state usually gets its way when the numbers look like that. The city's history of getting pedestrian safety a priority in dealing with state maintained roads is also pretty poor. Add in the fact that we're dealing with one of the poorest and least well organized communities in Durham, and the potential to have the state implement its project anyway is pretty great.

Stay tuned.