Dear City Council,

I am writing regarding the proposed Q Street subdivision, which the Council started discussing November 16^th. The issue will be continued at the December 7^th meeting. Without bike and pedestrian thru-access, this cul-de-sac project becomes an L.A.-style, car-centric liability to our city’s goal to create a walk-able and bike-able city. In the council’s discussion of this issue, it was great to see Paul Pitino asking questions about the bicycle and pedestrian bridge which enables thru-access.

Notice the variety of answers Paul got to his question of how often the bridge would be unavailable for use due to high water in Janes Creek. The chair of the planning commission, John Graves, said it would be unusable only when it floods, a “low-water” bridge, so to speak. Doby Class, public works director, talked about a crane coming each October to haul the bridge out, and replace it in April, with unknown costs associated with this maintenance activity.

I hope the council scrutinizes the bridge issue very closely. A seasonal bridge will leave school children of this new neighborhood on the wrong side of the creek without a paddle for 5 months of the school year. A permanent bridge is the simple solution that will provide year-round thru-access. Let’s do it the right way!

Thanks,

Chris Rall