Update on Penn Ave Reconstruction Plan
Stephan Koledin
I just attended the meeting for Phase I business owners this morning and
got quite a surprise, so just want to make sure that everyone affected
is aware. Not trying to make trouble, but it does seem that many might
be unaware of this pretty major change, so I'll try and insert a little
transparency here, at least best as I can make out given my limited
information. If anyone has a different view or more information, please
post it.
It looks as though the PhaseI and PhaseII boundaries were changed soon
after the big April community meeting announcements. These new
boundaries were described in the July 2009 newsletter
(http://kimballcorp.com/070661/Docs/Newsletter_July09.pdf), but I must
have missed that issue, as I'm sure others might have.
The new boundaries appear to be:
Phase1: Mathilda to Evaline
Phase2: Evaline to Aiken
A graphical view of the new plan as of 2009.08.19 can be seen at:
http://kimballcorp.com/070661/Docs/Proposed%20Improvement%20Plan%208-19-2009.pdf
As a reminder, the intial Phase1 section was determined/announced to be
Gross to Atlantic, based on the thorough needs assessment/qualification
(summary chart published in April 2009 newsletter -
http://kimballcorp.com/070661/Docs/Penn%20Ave%20April%2009%20Newsletter.pdf).
It appears that primarily based on requests from Jen Quinio,
Loysen+Kreuthmeier, and Freddie Croce for Phase1 to be extended to
Millvale, a discussion on changing the boundaries of PhaseI began and
then was assigned to a subcommittee for further study and recommendations.
[May 2009 PACPPC (Penn Ave Cooridor Phasing Plan Committee) minutes -
Section V. -
http://kimballcorp.com/070661/Docs/May09%20PACPPC%20Minutes.pdf]
Despite the Atlantic/Pacific blocks and intersections being some of
those of overall greatest need, the subcommittee came back with changes
that eliminated those blocks and added the "gateway" section from
Mathilda to Millvale to Gross. One interesting quote from the minutes:
"PH: The main concern with that is that the Penn/Atlantic intersection
is the highest need intersection, and there are no public comments on
cutting back like there are comments to extend to Millvale." I would
imagine that there are no public comments on the "cutting back" because
hardly anyone outside the committee knew about it, and certainly no one
anticipated the removal of these blocks at the April public meetings,
especially based on the data given.
The phasing plan change seemed to be reviewed and approved at the June
PACPPC meeting:
http://kimballcorp.com/070661/Docs/June09%20PACPPC%20Minutes.pdf
This group has been pretty quiet over the summer, so I really just
wanted to make sure everyone was aware of this change.
I'll try and do a better job of monitoring the project and committee
minutes, newsletters, and reports, but please post if you have any new
information to share regarding this project.
The main location for project information is currently
http://kimballcorp.com/070661/ but the BGC, FDA, etc. sites may also
have information posted.
If you're not already aware, there is another meeting targeted at
business owners in the Phase1 area scheduled for 6pm tonight at the BGC
activity center (N Pacific and Dearborn).
-Stephan
