Daily Archives: December 26, 2008

Radio

Smart City Radio

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Awhile back, my friend Beth Akeson told me about a public radio show called Smart City. It’s not broadcast on our local public radio affiliates (although I’ve recently put in a request for it at WCBU), but it is available on the internet:


Join host Carol Coletta for a look at the trends and ideas shaping our cities. Only on public radio.

As you can see, the synopsis/tag-line for the show is, “Join host Carol Coletta for a look at the trends and ideas shaping our cities.” It’s an interview show, so there are always interesting guests with thought-provoking points of view. Throw it on your iPod and take a listen — I think you’ll find it interesting.

I’m hooked. I’ve been putting past shows on my mp3 player and listening to them in the car. Especially interesting to me recently is an interview she did with Heywood Sanders called “Are Convention Centers a Silver Bullet?” and her interview with Andres Duany, who put together the Heart of Peoria Plan in 2002.

I think all civic-center-expansion and convention-hotel supporters should listen to the Heywood Sanders interview. His points are worth consideration.

2008 Campaign, City of Peoria, Weather

New snow plan has unintended consequences

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It all looks good on paper:

The City of Peoria has not established a “Bare pavement” policy for each and every roadway. Bare pavement will dramatically increase our costs as well as negative environmental impacts. If a citizen will drive carefully for a few blocks to a roadway with a higher level of service, travel throughout Peoria can be made easier and safer. Balancing levels of service to user volumes is the most efficient use of Peoria’s tax dollars and minimizes damage to the environment.

The plan was executed to the letter this year, which resulted in excellent driving on primary routes and treacherous driving on residential streets. Many residential streets are a solid sheet of ice, but Public Works and the City Council are evidently okay with that level of “service.”

What the snow plan didn’t take into account was the effect this would have on service vehicles, like garbage trucks. Many residents haven’t had garbage pickup for two weeks now — an inconvenience any time of year, but certainly around Christmas when there is a lot of extra garbage. Here’s the latest press release from the city:

In response to the icy conditions on roads and alleys, Waste Management has suspended residential and commercial collection for today. Collections will resume tomorrow, Saturday, December 27th, for the routes scheduled for collection today.

The icy conditions on roads and alleys are due in no small part to the city’s planned neglect of them, per the snow plan. The icy conditions are so bad that even the city’s snow plows are having trouble getting through neighborhoods now. Here’s another press release:

City crews are treating residential areas with a sand/salt mix to increase traction. Progress is delayed due to most inclines, that will force the salt truck to back up the street to prevent sliding.

If the snow plows can’t get through without sliding, how well do you think the average motorist is able to navigate these streets to get to “a roadway with a higher level of service”? Snow plows, garbage trucks, even Journal Star delivery has been delayed due to the icy conditions.

My guess is that the snow plan was designed to handle snow, but not ice like we’ve had this year. Maybe the city should reevaluate the snow plan in light of these developments and establish an “ice plan” for the future.

Museum Block, Nation/World, Peoria County

Did anybody not see this coming?

17 Comments

From today’s Journal Star:

Museum backers hope the federal economic stimulus plan includes $4 million to construct an underground parking garage for the Downtown project.

Of course they do. Especially with Mr. LaHood as Secretary of Transportation, they probably feel pretty confident they’ll get that money, too. Nevermind the fact that we don’t need any additional parking for this project. Nevermind the fact that they haven’t raised their goal in private or public funding, indicating that there is not sufficient local support for this project. The latest spin on the project is to call it a “stimulus project,” designed to stimulate the local economy:

[Brad] McMillan said an agreement with museum representatives and Caterpillar – which wants to construct a $41 million visitors center next to the Downtown museum – said “100 percent” of jobs generated from the construction of the facility would come from “local construction” and trades.

“This could mean a lot of work during a tough economic time span,” McMillan said.

In order for the project to go forward, of course, Peoria residents would have to approve a .25% increase in the local sales tax. So, you see, a higher sales tax will be a good thing for the economy, because it will create 250 construction jobs. Let’s see, $24,000,000 in higher sales taxes, plus $4,000,000 in federal stimulus money, that’s $28 million for 250 jobs, or $112,000 per job.

So now, not only is this project an exercise in inefficient land use, it can also be poster child for inefficient use of public funds.