Fwd: trail comments - Marc and Sarah Atas

[David Conn]

I was asked to forward the message below to this listserv........

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <ma...@ataslaw.com >
Date: Dec 2, 2007 9:14 AM
Subject: Fwd:
To: dhc...@gmail.com
Cc: Gennady....@baltimorecity.gov

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ma...@ataslaw.com [mailto: ma...@ataslaw.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 1, 2007 11:26 PM
To: Beth.S...@baltimorecity.gov
Cc: ma...@ataslaw.com

Dear Ms Strommen,   I wanted to express my opposition to proposal #2 for the Jones Falls Trail thru Mt  Washington.My opposition is based on several ideas.    1) the second proposal relies on access to two areas involving the Wesley Home. The road behind the Wesley Home is supposed to be the main access to the 400 new living spaces proposed at the Wesley Home.Why would we choose to also use this same road for a trail.  2) The trail is proposed to cross on the Wesley Home property next to the pool, however I thought that the Wesley expansion included this area , either for homes or for ingress and egress.  3) the second proposal requires use of the easement the pool has for access to Rogers ave. Many pool members use this easement for their family including wives and children who are often in bathing suits. Does it seem appropriate that they should have to encounter the rest of Baltimore on their way to the pool.   4) While walking on Cross Country Blvd, I realized that when the buses go by how narrow the street becomes,and there does not seem to also be room for parked cars and a bike trail.Bikers will use this area at great risk.  5) the intersection of Greenspring And Northern Parkway is extremely congested and there appears to be accidents there daily.Construction of the bridge will result in extreme traffic problems during construction as well as after completion. Once the bridge is completed, there will be one more distraction for drivers who seem to already have problems safely negotiating the intersection.  6) The Wesley Home once it expands was  talking about redoing the intersection where the pool exits on to Northern Parkway which is the exact area where the bridge is to be constructed. Obviously Wesley plan relies heavily on egress right in the area where you want your bridge to cross Northern Parkway. 7) the success on plan #2 relies on easements from Sinai , Wesley, The Mount Washington pool,as well as most of the neighbors on Cross Country.I have spoken to almost every neighbor on Cross Country and they almost unanomosly reject the second proposal. Just one no to the request for an easement would sabatoge the proposal.  Further, it may take months to canvass the necessary parties, only to find out the proposal will not work and much valuable time will be wasted.   8) The woods act as a sound barrier between the neighborhood and the traffic on Northern Parkway. Any clearing of the woods under proposal #2 would provide a natural tunnel for the traffic noise into the community. Proposal #1 did not seem to have the same effect. 9) Noone stops at the stop signs on Cross Country or on Rogers which will provide a hazzard to walkers as well as bikers.                                                                                                           Sincerely                               Marc And Sarah Atas 5415 Greenspring Ave