Abram's Street Woes - Part 1

Two incoming emails about Abram's in Arlington.  What's it going to cost YOU?  And WHO is trying to take over all Texas roads?  Ponder that.

Avoiding the Road Less Traveled?

Show of hands: how many of you avoid going to Abram Street in downtown Arlington because the sidewalks are too narrow? Anybody? Anybody? Didn’t think so. Let’s try this again: how many of you avoid Abram Street because of the lack of quality landscaping? Anybody at all? Finally, how many of you avoid driving down Abram Street because there are just too dang many lanes (five including the center turn lane!), but that if it were reduced to three, or better yet two, you’d mosey on down there this very instant to grab a Shipley Donut bear claw?

Susan Schrock reports (“Arlington considers future of Abram St.,” Star-Telegram, Sept. 10, 2012) that the Arlington City Council and various public officials believe that these are some of the things that are keeping customers away from downtown businesses.

Which of course begs the question: how dumb do they think we are?

Apparently at least $55,000 dumb, since that is the money that will be spent to study the effects of reducing the lanes (along with wider sidewalks, additional landscaping, adding bike lanes, etc.). The thinking seems to be:

1) Fewer lanes will cause traffic congestion.
2) People love traffic congestion.
3) Therefore: more people will flock to downtown Arlington businesses.

Such stunning logic is supplemented by Public Works and Transportation director Keith Melton, who is quoted as saying, “Everybody agrees it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing roadway.” Well duh. The road itself needs to be repaved. How about we start with that? Old and poorly-kept buildings line much of the street. Refurbishing those would have a huge impact. Abram is a major Arlington street, and its appearance and viability undoubtedly affect the city’s image and quality of life. But replacing automobile lanes with bike lanes and planting a few trees ignore the real issues.

City Hall offers bizarre plans that are disconnected from reality. The current sidewalks could use some repair here and there but are perfectly wide enough unless the city is anticipating an influx of sumo wrestler pedestrians who insist on walking three abreast on their way from eating those Shipley bear claws to catching a concert at the Levitt Pavilion. The city planners talk about the need for additional on-street parking, yet there’s always plenty of parking around. Even during major LevittPavilion concerts, it’s rare to have to walk more than two or three blocks (on those oh-so-narrow-sidewalks!) to get to the event. My guess is that even a convention of sumo wrestlers could manage.

According to Ms. Schrock’s article, the Downtown Arlington Management Corporation “is pushing for Abram to become more pedestrian-friendly.” The group’s executive vice president Tony Rutigliano says people need to feel safer walking around downtown, and he’s not talking about muggings. Apparently those narrow sidewalks are frightening the women and children–a veritable plethora of Bridges of Khazad-Dum, surrounded by Balrogs, with Mr. Rutiglianooffering to be our Gandalf shepherding us to safety.

I can’t believe he’s serious, and that is what’s disconcerting about all this. A debate about the future of Abram Street is needed, but it has to be based on reality, not on some mythical fantasy about an imaginary city. What’s next? How about a place to park landspeeders? What if I want to ride my tauntaunto the library?

The way to get more customers to businesses is to make it easier, not more difficult, to get to these businesses. Clogging up the roads so that we have to park six blocks away and walk or bicycle the rest of the distance just to grab a donut or taco is absurd. We might as well plan for that convention of sumo wrestlers to parachute in by helicopter for some Babe’s chicken.