Galaxy Highland 10
Let's Choose Civilization
RECEIVED Fri., Jan. 29, 2010
Dear Editor,
Thanks for the article “Can't Get There From Here” [News, Jan. 22]. It highlights Austin's worst transportation problem – failure to address the basics, such as sidewalks and bus stops, before building zoomways and parking lots for cars.
As Lee Nichols points out, the sad state of Austin's bus system is not Capital Metro's fault alone. A big chunk of the problem is a lack of sidewalks. A civilized city needs good sidewalks on both sides of every street. Without this, bus and train systems do not work well. Without continuous sidewalks, car owners will not choose to walk. Bicyclists have nowhere to go when the bike gets a flat or the street is jammed with idling cars. Old people, children, disabled people, and people who like to walk are just out of luck. It's so sad to read of Austin's grand transportation schemes that leave out the sidewalk system.
Unlike many of Austin's deficiencies, the lack of sidewalk is easy to fix. People already know how to build sidewalks. We don't need a traffic study to build sidewalks. Austin even has a Sidewalk Plan. There's an inventory of existing and missing sidewalks. There's a system for deciding which sidewalks to build first. But there is no reasonable timetable, no funding schedule that would finish the sidewalks within, say, 20 years. At present rates of construction, it will take 200 years to build the sidewalks.
This is ridiculous and disgraceful. But we can change it. Right now, Austin spends about $5 million per year on building sidewalks. If we spend 10 times that much, we can have sidewalks in our lifetime. If we don't, we can have a mean, dysfunctional city full of angry people in cars.
Let's choose civilization. Finish the sidewalk system.
Thanks for the article “Can't Get There From Here” [News, Jan. 22]. It highlights Austin's worst transportation problem – failure to address the basics, such as sidewalks and bus stops, before building zoomways and parking lots for cars.
As Lee Nichols points out, the sad state of Austin's bus system is not Capital Metro's fault alone. A big chunk of the problem is a lack of sidewalks. A civilized city needs good sidewalks on both sides of every street. Without this, bus and train systems do not work well. Without continuous sidewalks, car owners will not choose to walk. Bicyclists have nowhere to go when the bike gets a flat or the street is jammed with idling cars. Old people, children, disabled people, and people who like to walk are just out of luck. It's so sad to read of Austin's grand transportation schemes that leave out the sidewalk system.
Unlike many of Austin's deficiencies, the lack of sidewalk is easy to fix. People already know how to build sidewalks. We don't need a traffic study to build sidewalks. Austin even has a Sidewalk Plan. There's an inventory of existing and missing sidewalks. There's a system for deciding which sidewalks to build first. But there is no reasonable timetable, no funding schedule that would finish the sidewalks within, say, 20 years. At present rates of construction, it will take 200 years to build the sidewalks.
This is ridiculous and disgraceful. But we can change it. Right now, Austin spends about $5 million per year on building sidewalks. If we spend 10 times that much, we can have sidewalks in our lifetime. If we don't, we can have a mean, dysfunctional city full of angry people in cars.
Let's choose civilization. Finish the sidewalk system.
Amy Babich
