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April 12, 2007
I HOPE IT'S A "BUNCH OF BUNK" THAT CHICO IS BECOMING KNOWN AS "CHUCK-HOLE CIITY"
In a recent article in the E/R, a number of residents of North Cedar St. complained about the enormous number of “chuck-holes” in several blocks of the street.
Almost everyday, I hear complaints about the serious condition of our neighborhood and major streets. The City has begun a good job of repairing and rebuilding several of our major streets, but the City’s neighborhood streets are in a deplorable condition.
City Manager Greg Jones should apply his new dictum that the Departments should be carrying-out their responsibilities “BETTER, FASTER, SMARTER”. He should direct his General Services Department to get going and immediately move ahead on a maintenance program to “FILL-UP THE CHUCK-HOLES”, and the City Council should provide the necessary funds to do the maintenance of the streets NOW. This may require using a major portion of their maintenance personnel as well as using private contracting firms to get the job done in a “BETTER, FASTER, SMARTER” WAY.
Posted by Fred at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 05, 2007
TRANSPORTATION (BUS) CENTER LOCATED AT 2ND AND SALEM STREETS IS A "BUNCH OF BUNK"
I often hear members of the City Council and other public officials say that we all should “think outside of the box��?. I assume that expression is meant to tell us to take a long-term view of the project or program that is under consideration.
Now, I want the City Council, City Staff and the Butte County Associations of Government (BCAG) to “think outside of the box��? when they give further consideration for the design, construction and location of the Transit Center (sometime referred to as the Transportation Center or Bus Center). As I understand, the present discussion has been to keep the Transit Center at 2nd and Salem Streets and eventually build it into the lower deck of a parking structure to be located at that location. I noted that the recent Downtown Charrette consultants suggested that the Transit Center might be moved to 2nd and Normal Streets, just one block to the West (not much “thinking outside of the box��?).
First of all, the present location takes a substantial number of parking spaces in a very high parking impact area that is within walking distance of Downtown’s retail and other businesses. In addition I’ve counted at least eight monstrous buses belching exhaust fuel into the environment—I understand that eventually there could be at least eleven or more buses parked in the area. Considering the ability to relocate the Transit Center to an area where parking and the environment will not be adversely affected, it seems that the relocation would be a “no-brainer��?.
Where should the Transit Center be relocated? I would suggest somewhere near the Union Pacific Railroad Lines, (near Orange Street) but this should be left to the experts at the Municipal Building, BCAG and the University. If it is located near Orange Street a small “jitney type��? bus can be used to transport users to the University or Downtown businesses.
This is a real opportunity for the responsible public officials to begin to “think outside of the box��?.
Posted by at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)