Locals want red light on Expo
Community activists cite safety concerns, but city officials say plans are set.
Ashley Archibald
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
"It's voluminous, the stuff we've found," Goodmon said. "We made an information request a few months ago, and we came across document after document expressing problems left and right with crossings that haven't been addressed. [The Authority will] change it only if they're forced to, and we want to force them to through this protest."
City Councilman Bernard Parks, whose district will see much of the construction, maintains that Goodmon is relying on old, inflammatory information to stage a protest that should have begun years ago when the environmental impact report - a study conducted by the MTA showing how the train will impact the social and ecological environment - was filed.
"The line in its planning stages have been there for 10 years. Many of the concerns were asked and answered during the [environmental impact report]," Parks said. "He keeps bringing them up and informing people about it like it was a new issue. His arguments are not balanced in that he's purposefully misleading people."
ISSUES OF CONTENTION
The biggest point of concern for the community is how close the train will come to Dorsey High School - 20 feet from the school's property line and 50 feet from the school itself.
The proximity to Dorsey High School is particularly disturbing to the Fix Expo and community groups because of the number of students in the area: 105 students would cross the tracks in just one minute when the school bell rings, Goodmon said.
His answer, again, is grade separation.
"This is the number one issue in the city. How can you think people aren't willing to make an investment to save kids?" Goodmon said.
The Expo Authority studied the crossing at Dorsey and is convinced there won't be a risk to the students, Exposition Authority Chief Project Officer Eric Olsen said.
"The Dorsey crossing is done with state-of-the-art equipment: four-quadrant gates, bells, flashers and a pedestrian gate. We think everything as designed is safe," Olsen said. "We've done our own field analysis and looked at student behaviors, volumes, flows. We established peak period which was 3 to 3:15 p.m., when [the students are] getting out. Our model has demonstrated that this crossing can be done safely."
City Councilman Bernard Parks, whose district will see much of the construction, maintains that Goodmon is relying on old, inflammatory information to stage a protest that should have begun years ago when the environmental impact report - a study conducted by the MTA showing how the train will impact the social and ecological environment - was filed.
"The line in its planning stages have been there for 10 years. Many of the concerns were asked and answered during the [environmental impact report]," Parks said. "He keeps bringing them up and informing people about it like it was a new issue. His arguments are not balanced in that he's purposefully misleading people."
ISSUES OF CONTENTION
The biggest point of concern for the community is how close the train will come to Dorsey High School - 20 feet from the school's property line and 50 feet from the school itself.
The proximity to Dorsey High School is particularly disturbing to the Fix Expo and community groups because of the number of students in the area: 105 students would cross the tracks in just one minute when the school bell rings, Goodmon said.
His answer, again, is grade separation.
"This is the number one issue in the city. How can you think people aren't willing to make an investment to save kids?" Goodmon said.
The Expo Authority studied the crossing at Dorsey and is convinced there won't be a risk to the students, Exposition Authority Chief Project Officer Eric Olsen said.
"The Dorsey crossing is done with state-of-the-art equipment: four-quadrant gates, bells, flashers and a pedestrian gate. We think everything as designed is safe," Olsen said. "We've done our own field analysis and looked at student behaviors, volumes, flows. We established peak period which was 3 to 3:15 p.m., when [the students are] getting out. Our model has demonstrated that this crossing can be done safely."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Transit Advocate
posted 10/30/07 @ 2:19 PM PST
It's a case of too little too late. There were numerous public meetings wherein all these issues could have been addressed. By bringing this up at this late date only serves to squelch the project. (Continued…)
Chris
posted 10/31/07 @ 8:51 AM PST
Environmental racism...that's funny. It's environmental racism if Metro builds rail lines in wealthy white areas, it's environmental racism if they build them in poor minority areas. (Continued…)
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