To: Chris Hilbert, Re: Removing parking lane on Westbrook
A Northside resident sent the following email to Chris Hilbert about removing the parking lane on Westbrook between Brook and Chamberlayne and replacing it with a sidewalk. He’s got some interesting points. Do you agree? (Email after the jump!)
Mr Hilbert,
My family and I are new residents of the North Ginter Park neighborhood. In January we purchased a home on Chamberlayne Avenue at Westbrook Avenue. We use Westbrook for primary travel daily, on all of our trips- on bike, on foot, and in car.
I was wondering if any thought has been given to removing the “parking lane” (on which only one car parks) on Westbrook between Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue, and adding a 4 or 5 foot wide sidewalk in any improvement project there. It seems to be the only road in the area without sidewalks. It’s fairly heavily trafficked by pedestrians, it’s a wide enough street to accommodate the loss of roadway width, the neighborhood doesn’t need the parking, and it’s between a school and a library. It also needs resurfacing, and I was hoping that may be a project in the works as well. I’d like to see any improvement to Westbrook include pedestrian accommodations.
I believe Westbrook is currently about 34 feet wide. With a 4 foot sidewalk, 6 inch curb, and a 1.5 foot wide gutter pan, it would leave room for two 11 foot lanes.
Is anything like this in the works or being considered? If not, who would I talk to with the City? Please let me know what I can do to get involved in making this happen.
I disagree. On our side of Westbrook I see a lot cars using the parking lane, and we already have sidewalks. I don’t want to lose that bit of grass and trees that separates the road from the sidewalk. I do understand that Westbrook between Brook and Chamberlayne could use a sidewalk as there currently isn’t one. I agree with that, but not the idea of changing the rest of Westbrook. We have a sidewalk, we use the parking lane, plus I have to admit that the parking lane does help slow down the moving cars in conjunction with the traffic calming patterns put in place last year.
I agree that a sidewalk would be a good use of said area. Increasing user friendliness for non-motorized recreation and and transportation is a great way to increase property values. And, with the aging population and obesity epidemic, creating walking friendly communities has never been more important. .
“removing the “parking lane” (on which only one car parks) on Westbrook between Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue, and adding a 4 or 5 foot wide sidewalk”
This only applies to the section between Brook and Westbrook. No other area is implied, as all other areas already have sidewalks.
Ooops- between Brook and Chamberlayne.