[BikeLongmont] BL May meeting and Emery closure position paper

[Jerryanddiane2]

Nenad,

I do not agree with the Bicycle Longmont position.  I don't really have time to think about and write down my objections before tomorrow's meeting.  However, in general, I think the welfare of the business should take president over bicycle access.  Also, there should not be any cost to the citizens of Longmont other than in my opinion a minor inconvenience..  It should all be borne by the business.  I also contend there is not enough bicycle or vehicular traffic to justify keeping it open.  See ya tomorrow night.

Jerry Seguin



In a message dated 05/07/08 20:01:45 Mountain Daylight Time, nenad at bicyclelongmont.org writes:
Hi,

Bicycle Longmont May meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, May 8, at 7PM in the Smart Etailing space above High Gear. We'll talk about the Bike to Work Day preparations, as well as the Emery closure proposal.

The sense at our last meeting and the email traffic on the list indicate that there is a broad consensus that closing Emery is not a good thing for cyclists (or motorists, for that matter). We decided to draft a position paper outlining our concerns and submit it to the City for consideration. I am attaching the draft below. Please take a moment and let us know your thoughts - I urge you to send your comments to the whole list (email to bike at bicyclelongmont.org), but you're welcome to send them just to me if you'd rather keep them private. Or, best yet, stop by tomorrow night! My goal is to make sure that whatever we submit reflects the consensus in the group.

Regards, Nenad
...your friendly Bicycle Longmont coordinator...


Bicycle Longmont Position Paper on Emery Street Closure Proposal

Bicycle Longmont opposes the proposed closure of the Emery Street between First and Second Avenues. Our concerns are as follows:


Emery Street is a natural bicycle access route to the downtown from the south and south-east. It enables bicyclists to avoid the crowded and dangerous Main Street corridor. If Emery is closed, the bicycle traffic will be forced to either follow Main Street or detour east to Martin. 

The City has constructed a bicycle path from the Highway 119 to the First Avenue at the fire training facility. Emery Street closure would close the downtown access from the path. The alternative route via Martin is less suitable. There is more traffic and in particular the right turn into First Ave. riding southbound is narrow. Finally, access from the path north via Emery requires taking a left from the path, where it is safe to wait for a break in traffic; return is a simple right turn from the First Ave. Taking Martin, exit from the path is to the right, but cyclists trying to enter the path must take a left on First Ave. This is unsafe, since there is no turn lane and the traffic may be heavy.

Martin tends to be closed by the maneuvering trains more often than Emery, so Emery is a natural bypass route if the Martin is closed, especially for the northbound traffic. Closing Emery would force the traffic, both bicycle and automobile, to Main Street at the times Martin is blocked. 
Longmont already has a problem with north-south connectivity in the vicinity of St Vrain and railroad tracks. Closing Emery would make the problems worse. This is likely to become even more pronounced as the commuter traffic starts using the railroad.

Closing Emery would mean losing one railroad crossing. Since adding new crossings requires the railroad concurrence and is thus practically impossible, we are concerned that this loss would be permanent. 
While closing Emery might not have significant adverse impact on the traffic counts on neighboring intersections, the city should consider impact on the traffic, both bicycle and vehicular, that uses Emery and would be forced to alternate routes.

We understand that closing Emery would make Butterball operations simpler, but the transaction seems one-sided: all the benefits accrue to the plant and all the costs fall onto the public.
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