The need for more crosswalks in the Loop became glaringly obvious this Wednesday as construction began on the southwestern corner of Limit and Delmar.
It has been frustrating enough dealing with the mess at Eastgate and Delmar. For reasons Lupe does not understand, the tuckpointing on that building requires several weeks of work and the scaffolding apparently needs to take up the entire sidewalk even when the work is not going on.
And was no one far-sighted enough to set up a temporary crosswalk? Or to at least block off the parking spaces and make a temporary, safe, contained way to walk in the street?
Lupe has learned that both the City and the County of St. Louis really only care about the revenue from the parking spaces. That is why they resist putting in more crosswalks.
(University City does not have domain over the road part of Delmar- just the sidewalks, if Lupe understands correctly. And no one seems to have domain over the traffic lights at the corner of Skinker and Delmar, which are off sequence, creating confusion when the northbound traffic is running. Lupe has made phone calls and drawn diagrams of how the lights should be sequenced, but no one seems able to do anything about it. It is mostly humorous, except late at night, when inebriated people are heading from the county "close at 130AM bars" to the city "open til 3AM bars".)
Fortunately, the construction company working at Limit only closed off the sidewalk and bus stop on Wednesday. It looks rather unattractive, but you can walk on the sidewalk and catch the bus...
... why the construction permit didn't set up a temporary bus stop for that one day Wednesday does confuse Lupe. After all, if you are dependent on public transportation to do things like grocery shop (or you are handicapped or elderly), the walk to Westgate, or Skinker, is a considerable difference, but perhaps that is another matter for another day and Metro...
See you in The Loop!!!
EDIT: Okay, Lupe cannot believe this! Tomorrow (20 May 2010) is Wash. U.'s graduation; U. City High's graduation is this weekend, and these two sidewalks are closed! Thousands of people are coming here from across the country, and some from around the world, and we cannot provide them with safe sidewalks or convenient bus stops!
(And Lupe is NOT going to raise her blood pressure by asking WHY? in such a pedestrian oriented neighbourhood is there NO BUS BENCHES!!! And please, do not say "panhandlers" because Lupe is too fed up with stupid excuses to hear that right now.)
At both Delmar and Limit, and Delmar and Eastgate, people are walking out in the street, of course. Those silly signs that say "danger" are largely ignored. If the cities of St. Louis and University City don't think it is important enough to block off parking, make a temporary sidewalk or crosswalk, why should a pedestrian take the silly sign seriously? (Say that five times fast... ;o)
To add insult to injury, while the scaffolding remains, day after day, at the Eastgate construction site, no work is going on!
Lupe wouldn't feel so discouraged, but everyone keeps saying "This is University City!" Or "That's St. Louis for you." Public safety is a concern no matter what city you are in!
Metro Bus 314 982 1406
University City Public Works 314 505 8560
St. Louis City Public Works 314 622 4888
