Urban Planning Anyone...

Has anyone else noticed the new sidewalks recently constructed around the site of the demolished former Freeport City Hall?

Often in the role of pedestrian Tutty notices impediments to walkers and wheelchair users that appear throughout our city.  Some of these obstacles are huge, others not so much, but let's agree that we should try to not put anymore potential obstacles in the path of those that wish to use sidewalks to get from point A to point B.

Here are a couple of pictures of the recently installed sidewalk.

What Tutty wants to know is  who allowed a curb cut on Stephenson Street so cars can enter and exit this lot from Stephenson Street, just a few mere feet east of the intersection of Walnut Avenue?  Who permitted this curb cut and what is the process for being granted a new curb cut where one previously did not exist?

At one point you could walk down the north side of West Stephenson Street and not have to worry about cars crossing your path outside of marked intersections.  The southside of West Stephenson Street has been a pedestrian nightmare for decades, with bank and other drive throughs populating this stretch, in many cases motorists are blind to pedestrians until they are upon the sidewalk.

So whose idea was it to put a curb cut for cars at this location on Stephenson Street?  What is the process for getting approval for a curb cut...is there even one Freeport City Council?

I don't know if Freeport is in need of a genuine urban planner or just a few people that look beyond the convenient.  Clearly if Freeport wants to be known as a pedestrian friendly city, there is much work to do and one of the first should be an adequate permitting process for when cars are going to be allowed to cross pedestrian thoroughfares. 

As always, yours in honesty, Tutty Baker tutty.baker@google.com