political involvement

I attended the constituent meeting hosted by the Metro Council member representing the 7th district (where I live) last night. It was good to finally get around to meeting Ken Fleming, after having lived in this district for two years. I think he'd had public meetings prior to this, but I hadn't tuned my metaphorical radar to catch word of them.

I got to entertain several of the attendees when I commented on the I-264 bridge over Westport Road, and how the downspouts are arranged so that they empty onto folks using the sidewalks under that bridge. I characterized it as Kentucky Transportation Cabinet relieving itself on the pedestrians, a metaphor that I find apt.

Quite a few of the attendees had questions about the plans for the new VA hospital site and attendant traffic woes. Many residents who live within the immediate area of the new site are upset at how things have been handled, and rightly so. Many people feel that this has been rammed through without heeding input from people whose lives will be affected by the construction noise, the additional traffic snarls due to the construction and due to the normal flow of the eventual facility, the light and noise pollution due to the facility, and more.

Regardless of whether this is indeed the best site for the new facility, public information and dialog could have gone better. It could go better than it likely will. Residents complained that they won't have any say in the arrangement of the buildings in the new facility (and they still likely will not, although the VA official stressed repeatedly that the plans will respect neighbors as much as can be done).

Somewhere in all this, another gem got dropped. Never mind that there is a LOT of construction around the I-264/US42 interchange, they are considering a total reworking of that interchange in the not-distant future. Interestingly, one possible rework they are considering would be to make it a SPUI (Single Point Urban Interchange), in this case looking similar to the I-264/Poplar Level Road interchange. This has some merit, as it would remove one traffic light from a fairly short stretch than now has four lights. Synchronizing would be a bit easier, so as to reduce traffic delays at peak travel times. There is a new ramp under construction already that will allow eastbound I-264 (also called the Watterson Distressway) traffic to get to the new VA facility without using US42, which will take some of the heat off the US42 lights.

Other little snippets that were not the big focus of the presentation (the big focus being the VA hospital): There are plans afoot to install sidewalks and possibly a bike lane (ugh) alongside LaGrange Road from Lyndon Lane to just beyond the Central State Hospital complex (Lakeland Drive). I will be contacting KYTC about this, to be sure, as I am not so sure bike lanes are needed there (wider pavement would be nice, to be sure, but putting a line of "magic paint" outside which bicyclists must ride is not a great idea). Sidewalks, though, would be very good to have.