Comments on: City Staffers Brief Wall Street Neighbors

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:42:00 +0000

That’s correct, Montel, you don’t understand what the big deal is.
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A few examples:
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“…the parking structure(s) will create a lot of traffic?”
– Yes. UM’s own traffic analysis concluded that peak weekday traffic rate on Wall Street would increase from currently less than 200 cars/hour to well over 1000 cars/hour.
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“to begin with, wall street isn’t a busy road.”
– The parking structure will also be immediately adjacent to Maiden Lane which is already jammed during rush hours. Worse, the only access to Wall Street itself from the east is via Maiden Lane.
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“i’m not sure what is meant by central ann arbor either.”
– Well, at least you admit it. Central Ann Arbor is the area, in & around the center of the City, that has a high population density and a high density of pedestrians and vehicular traffic congestion. It’s also the area of the City with the highest air pollution concentrations of unburned hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and micro- & nanoscopic organic particulates. (The Wall Street/Lower Town area in particular is one of the most vulnerable areas in the City for air pollution because it’s in a valley and because of the high traffic flow through the area on Broadway and on Maiden Lane — not to mention the traffic through Fuller’s intersection with Maiden Lane immediately east of the Wall Street area.)
One of the most effective ways that other cities have restrained increases in these air pollutants has been to reduce single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) traffic in city centers.
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“are they thinking that hordes of people would park down on wall street so they can shop and dine downtown? that they would park there and walk to some residences on the other side of the tracks and over a bridge?”
– Neither. The structures (two, with 600 parking spaces each) are planned entirely for UM Hospital employees and patients, and mostly for UM employees.
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“visitors, however, will most likely use the shuttles. and guess what? there’s already an existing shuttle route for wall street. so nothing new there.”
– What’s new are shuttles to accommodate commuters using the 1200 additional parking spaces. The currently proposed Wall Street/Maiden Lane location for this new parking capacity is the WORST POSSIBLE location: It’s just far enough away from the Hospital’s main campus to require most users first to park and then to take a shuttle, yet it’s so close to the main campus that use of the new parking capacity will have virtually no effect on restraining the increase in SOV mileage accumulated in the central City.
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“so, um has land and the money to build and in so doing, create jobs for contractors, skilled laborers, general laborers, architecture firms, and the like. sounds like a plus to me. the med system employs thousands of people. another plus. if they want to put up these projects… on their own land… GOD BLESS ‘EM! at least we can count on um to weather through these economic hard times.”
– That’s completely irrelevant to the issue, in fact, it’s a straw man, because nobody’s advocating limiting increases in employment or not building additional parking capacity. What’s being advocated is building parking capacity further away from the City center, specifically to restrain the increase in UM-related SOV traffic in the Lower Town/Wall Street area. (One possibility would be a parking structure at the location of the current surface parking lot northwest of the intersection of Huron Parkway & Glazier Way. [GoogleMaps Link ])
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“you don’t like it here? you don’t like the university? that’s ok… just move to howell so we don’t have to hear you anymore.”
– Actually, there’s been no significant opposition, from the Wall Street area and Lower Town community, to UM’s extensive plans to build along almost all of both sides of Wall Street, from Broadway on the west to the River on the east. In fact, there’s no significant opposition to a single, smaller parking structure across from Kellogg that would be only for Kellogg patients. The opposition has been directed only towards the proposed _two_ 5- or 6-story 600-car parking structures.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:11:17 +0000

You said it all, Montel.

By: montel

montel — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:22:34 +0000

i don’t think i understand what the big deal is…

…the parking structure(s) will create a lot of traffic? to begin with, wall street isn’t a busy road. also, it’s not a dense, residential neighborhood where a parking structure and any increase in traffic that it would bring, would be problematic. maiden lane is a busier street but will always remain that way as it is a corridor that connects fuller to broadway/plymouth road and also pontiac trail.

i’m not sure what is meant by central ann arbor either. are they thinking that hordes of people would park down on wall street so they can shop and dine downtown? that they would park there and walk to some residences on the other side of the tracks and over a bridge? i seriously doubt that. people who will use the structure(s) will use it for the immediate area and i don’t think there’s any worry that it would attract even more people who would use it but venture off well outside the area.

as for the shuttles, that’s true. it would entail shuttles. although i would hazzard a guess that a lot of people wouldn’t mind a short walk to the med center. i already see a lot of employees doing that. visitors, however, will most likely use the shuttles. and guess what? there’s already an existing shuttle route for wall street. so nothing new there.

so, um has land and the money to build and in so doing, create jobs for contractors, skilled laborers, general laborers, architecture firms, and the like. sounds like a plus to me. the med system employs thousands of people. another plus. if they want to put up these projects… on their own land… GOD BLESS ‘EM! at least we can count on um to weather through these economic hard times.

so many people are quick to jump down the university’s throat. i think that’s the way it always is… any large entity must be evil. let’s take ‘em down! a lot of citizenry were up in arms over um purchasing the pfizer land taking tax money away from the city. guess what? nothing was happening with that parcel. no big takers, especially not now during this downturn. if um didn’t take it off the city’s hands, it would have ended up like the lower town project. years of nothing with ocassional glimpses of hope. so, they buy it with a definitive plan and the prospects of increasing the jobs base in the region. sounds good to me. i’m sure the businesses across the road will enjoy having some neighbors around again. and another thing, um originally owned a majority of that land. they sold it in the 1950s to parke davis which became pfizer. and then they sold them additional land when pfizer needed to expand with the agreement that um had the right to purchase should pfizer sell off. so, where were the: hoorays!!! for michigan for fifty years when the city was reaping property takes from parke davis and pfizer courtesy of um selling the property? no, i didn’t hear it then and i don’t hear it now. really, it’s their land, they should do what they want with it… parking structures on wall street, labs on pfizer.

the university brings a lot to this city. it isn’t the evil entity that people like to think. it brings in people who work, live and play here. it brings in art and culture. thank god for umma, huh? a city of 100,000 without a museum? wow, that would suck. the nat sci museum, kelsey museum… fantastic, huh? would the royal shakespeare company come to ann arbor if not for the university? all the musical, theater, and performance troupes and groups that come to ann arbor… guess what? courtesy of the university. the energy and excitement, the desire to try new things, creativity, thoughtfulness, get up and go… students, staff, visitors, infected townies. without the university and it’s building projects and expansions, this landscape would be a more barer and poorer one to live in… we’d be nothing more than a canton or a brighton or a livonia. maybe not even that considering we’re well past the suburban detroit ring.

so, people… quit yer bitchin’. it sounds like people have got their panties in a bunch because they feel slighted by the university. you don’t like it here? you don’t like the university? that’s ok… just move to howell so we don’t have to hear you anymore.