About a month ago, I had to take my car in for some repair at the Honda dealership on Pioneer Parkway. While it was in the shop, I decided to try to get around town without a vehicle. That experiment didn’t last too long.
It was over the weekend, and I needed to go into work on a Saturday. I decided to try taking the bus. It was scheduled to arrive about five minutes to nine, so I started to the bus stop at a quarter till. It doesn’t take but maybe four minutes to walk to the bus stop, and I can see the intersection while I’m walking to it. Before I’ve walked for even two minutes, I see the bus go by. It came early — almost ten minutes early. Since it was a Saturday, the buses only run once an hour.
Well, I only live about two and a half miles from work, and I figured I could walk there in less than an hour, so I started off north on University from Columbia Terrace. I was walking on the west side of the road, down the hill, over the interstate, and up to Nebraska. Looking across Nebraska, I could see that there was no sidewalk next to the cemetery, but there was a sidewalk on the east side of the street, so I crossed at the light.
Now I’m walking north on the east side of University. The sidewalk is narrow — about four feet across — and it abuts the roadway where cars are going by at roughly 40-45 miles per hour. The sidewalk is uneven, crumbling in places, and completely missing on a couple of parcels. If anyone were trying to navigate this in a wheelchair, it would be impossible… and impassible, for that matter.
But the coup de grâce was when I was approaching McClure. Remember, there is no signaled intersection at which to cross University between Nebraska and McClure. City crews were doing some roadwork north of McClure on the east side of the road, meaning I was going to have to cross back to the west side of University to avoid them. There was just one problem — before I could get to the intersection, there was a large orange sign completely blocking the sidewalk. The city crews, in order to alert drivers that there was road work ahead, had put up a large, temporary orange sign right smack in the middle of the sidewalk. The only way around it was to walk in the yard or the street. If a person were in a wheelchair, there would be no way around it at all.
At that point, my mother-in-law happened to be driving by with my kids in her car, and they saw me walking along the road and stopped to pick me up, so my pedestrian experience came to an end.
Conclusion: Peoria really needs to improve its sidewalks and its mass transit service. The buses need to be more frequent, and the sidewalks need to be repaired and maintained — and made ADA-compliant. The city is starting to focus on the sidewalk issue, and in fact just had a policy session about sidewalks last night. CityLink, meanwhile, is looking at adding more destinations. I think it would be better for them to focus on improving their bus stops and the frequency of their buses.
pedestrians have been persona-non-gratis in Peoria for a long, long time. Instead of spending a fortune pandering to the trail loons, the City should be looking at providing an alternative to driving everywhere, what with oil at $100/barrel, and likely going up. But it won’t, people who can’t/don’t want to drive cars are perceived to be poor people, old people, kids, or people with DUI convictios, in short, people with no clout at City Hall. When gas gets to $5/gallon and fatcat developers see empty parking lots at their otherwise inaccessable strip malls, panic will set in, but not before I’m afraid. Our leaders have less foresight than an ostrich with its head firmly in the ground.
CJ – you should try doing that while pushing two little kids in a stroller. I live near Bradley and it is nearly impossible to walk anywhere safely, particularly with a stroller. I have never lived in a city with a shabbier sidewalk system, and I have lived in several larger cities than Peoria. I believe a good pedestrian system is part of a positive neighborhood and a strong city. Peoria doesn’t even come close.
Ms. PH — Done it! I have three kids, and I’ve pushed the two younger ones in a double stroller near Bradley as well. Not easy! Especially with all the curb cuts. And forget about going on the sidewalks on Main Street. They’re really treacherous, and too close to traffic that is driving too fast.
“Instead of spending a fortune pandering to the trail loons, the City should be looking at providing an alternative to driving everywhere”
An alternative to driving. That would mean one of two things. Walking or Biking. In this town you can do neither of those two things safely and BOTH should be embraced. I’m not talking about the bike trail. That’s not going to help anyone get to work, I’m talking about better and wider sidewalks and bike lanes.
At minimum, new or improved roads should include a bike lane. CJ- I dare you to ride a bike down University. Or Sheridan. Or Main Street.
PI — Done it! But not for long because it’s too dangerous. I duck into the side streets where it’s safer. It’s not just the older part of town, either. Try riding your bike from Big Hollow Road by Barnes and Noble to the mall or across 150 to the Sherwood Forest subdivision. This town is simply set up for one type of transportation and one type only: automobiles.
sidewalks and bike lanes combined, in my opinion; a “bike lane” on University could be better described as a suicide lane. And what about light rail/streetcars and buses? What about relatively simple things like being able to cross busy streets so you don’t have to move the car from one parking lot to another? (say Northwoods to Westlake or Sheridan Village to Evergreen) In some areas it’s going to take some serious redesign. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Look at all the work and money spent on the Upset 74 Project. Oh, I forgot, that was for cars and trucks. Spare no expense for them.
I started walking to and from work (2 miles each way give or take) in October -after I read about the neato “Walk to Work” program that B. Manning and B. Van Auken were going to propose to the city council. It turns out that this does not mean that they actually expected people to walk to work – just live in older neighborohoods -but I digress. It took me a couple of weeks to find an acceptable route – and that route (without a stroller or wheelchair)still has stretches of crumbled sidewalk and stretched of no sidewalk. The lack of sidewalk by that cemetary is less of a problem in the winter – the ruts are frozen – it can be a mud pit when it’s warmer.
What I learned from the policy session last night is that I can turn in a complaint about a crumpled unsafe sidewalk and that it doesn’t have to come from the home owner or business owner.
Indeed, let’s spend a bunch of tax dollars on the twelve people who like to walk and bike about town. Thank goodness we’re a communi— er, New Urban town!
Joe,
I would bike about town religiously if Peoria had the sort of bicycle paths that exist in Germany. People did too. It wasn’t like they couldn’t have driven if they wanted to. It was quicker for me to get downtown, where all the shopping was, by bicycle than it was to drive or take a bus. Their pathways were so cleverly well done, I rarely had to stop.
All the bicycles pathways were distinct from the roadway (not a lane painted on the road) and the sidewalk. Along busier roads, bike lanes had their own stop lights that were cycled with the traffic lights for autos (no pressing buttons).
The right of ways were quite clear and enforced. Pedestrians have the RoW over bikes which had the RoW over cars when crossing each others paths. Hitting pedestrians or bikes when they have the right of way would likely cost you your license, PERMANENTLY.
There are only 12 people who have enough guts to try to ride a bike to work in this city. I tried it for a few weeks this fall. I had two people take “swerves” at me to “keep me in line” or for their amusement. Between intolerant drivers (and their lack of knowledge of the rules of the road involving bikers) and less than ideal biking condition some our roads are in, it isn’t worth risking my life to save some gas $$.
I am 60+ and most of the sidewalks in Peoria have been bad since I was a kid. So many streets in the east bluff have no sidewalks or they are in such bad condition that you must walk in the street. I attended Von Steuben and had to walk 5 blocks in the street to school and 50+ years later there still are no sidewalks on those streets. This is just one of the reasons that I no longer live in Peoria.
“CJ- I dare you to ride a bike down University. Or Sheridan. Or Main Street.”
I’ve done it on Sheridan and Main, and they weren’t terrible. I wouldn’t DARE on University. But I ride European-style, which is to say I get off and walk (on the sidewalk) when it’s steep, rather than laboriously attempting to pump up the hill at 5 mph in a 45 zone.
I do also ride quite a bit on the sidewalk, which I shouldn’t do (and shouldn’t have to do!) but I don’t have a death wish.
I personally haven’t run into aggressive drivers who hate bikers, but I know they’re out there. In Durham we used to see them pitch soda cans at bikers — charming.
First, we’re not Europe…with centuries of population and “infrastructural” density that demanded the use of bikes. It’s a “cultural” thing that Peoria wasn’t built to suit bikes any more than it is to suit New Urbanism (or, technically, vice versa). Make no mistake: bike riding is awesome, just not on a transportation system that wasn’t intended to support cyclists.
Second, as for the rules of the road…they’re intended for safety, not for the biker’s entitlement. Roads were built for cars. When bikers can go the speed limit or at least stay at the minimum speed limit, they’d be much more welcomed on the road.
But as I look back…having gotten lost in this diatribe of mine…the original post was about walking. Indeed, got to have safe, passable sidewalks.
CJ – You duck into the side streets where it’s safer to bike.
Why doesn’t the city mark out bike routes using the side streets? Bikers want bike paths, cars don’t want the bikes on any of the “get me out of Peoria” roads. This probably isn’t possible everywhere but it probably is in the heart of Peoria.
I would be much more afraid of the fact that I was walking through some of our older neighborhoods rather than the condition of the sidewalks.
“Second, as for the rules of the road…they’re intended for safety, not for the biker’s entitlement. Roads were built for cars. When bikers can go the speed limit or at least stay at the minimum speed limit, they’d be much more welcomed on the road.”
Rules of the road apply to both drivers and bikers. Bikers are every bit as entitled to use the road as drivers provided both are obeying the law. Bikers do not owe a debt of gratitude to drivers for allowing them to live or to use the roads.
Rules of the Road apply to automobiles and their drivers, if bikes decide to join the road, then they apply to them also. Seldom do I see a bike rider obey the rules of the road. They blow thru intersections and weave thru traffic, some even travel against the traffic flow.
In Europe, gas has always been twice or triple what we pay for it here so people use bikes to get around before feeding a car. When gas reaches $6 a gallon here, people will seriously start looking to other forms of transportation like bikes and mass transit. Too bad our city buses are crap or are on loan from Champaign-Urbana.
I also have noticed that they are fixing the sidewalks along University just south of Forrest Hill to McClure. Gee, here in the south end, I wish we had a sidewalk to fix!
Gee whiz, let’s do the trail for the 12 people who will use it!
Gee whiz, let’s fix up the sidewalks and make everything super wide so that bikers can be safe for the 12 people who want to walk to work, or ride their bike to the Kwik-e-Mart!
Every single danged person who has ever signed on to Peoria Chronicle, Peoria Pundit, Joe’s Screen Door Repair Site, or any other danged blog in the tri-county area has driven their car at or above the speed limits consistently, and will continue to do so.
We have met the enemy… and it is us.
I’m depressed…I find myself in agreement with Emtronics and Prego Man. Mephistopheles must be wearing mittens.
Don’t fret none, Kris. No doubt by the next topic, you’ll find yourself at the polar opposite from me (no pun intended).
What I feel bad about is that University is apparently listed on some maps as having a bike path. Over the summer, my husband and I see a number of distance cyclists try to make their way down the street without getting creamed by a car. Bikes, especially loaded down with gear, have no place on the University stretch. Many of these cyclists follow the rules of the road (hand signals and all). It’s unfortunate that the Peoria they see is hardly our best.
I watch Gary Sangberg speak so adamently about how we need to improve the sidewalks in Peoria and I am hopeful. I tried to get the neighbors on my street to pay the 20% to get a sidewalk on my street and all of them, ALL OF THEM, said no. I think sidewalks are important. I just don’t know who should pay for them. Where will the city get the money?And who would lose out if the city reallocates funds?
NewsAnchorMom: I recall when Ransburg ran for mayor (the first time) that the cost to replace sidewalks was about $40 million. The cost is around $110 million and the price tag keeps going up 9 (increased construction costs and more deteriorated sidewalks)— it appears that only a few million are allocated each year to this financial abyss — hopefully staff will develop a comprehensive sidewalk replacement/installation place that many successive city councils will honor. Time will tell the whole story.
I guess I was lucky enough to have been brought up in the right town in the right neighborhood. We had sidewalks everywhere and they were in good condition. All the neighborhood kids rode there bikes on the sidewalk instead of in the street. We drew hopscotches with chalk on the sidewalk in front of our houses and played for hours right were our parents could see us. We skated on the sidewalks from corner to corner. It was wonderful and the whole neighborhood enjoyed the good sidewalks and the parking area next to the curb with grass covering. This kept the street debris off the pedestrians and children. Oh for the good old days.
This is probably a stupid question, but can the cost of sidewalk construction be brought down with volunteer labor? That is, road maintenance used to (in the frontier days) be done with labor levies of the folks who lived near the road, like a muscle tax to pay for it.
Some of the tasks involved in putting in sidewalks aren’t hard to learn, just time-consuming and require muscle. Could neighborhood associations help “bankroll” sidewalks by volunteering labor, providing the crew for a concrete contractor, so that we’d only have to pay for materials and supervisors/expert dudes?
I’m sure there are insurance and liability issues, but surely those could be worked out. Just in terms of cost, how much would something like that help?
I’m not sure about the volunteer labor but they can contract for prison labor.
Eyebrows, I think it can be done. ONe member of our association so fed up with the crappy sidewalks and lack of response, used his bobcat and ripped them out himself, a neighors and a couple more houses that would participate. They put the new ones in themselves. Unsure of the cost. The guys that put ours in several years ago didn’t appear to be be skilled laborers as they managed to damage our water pipes in the process and then tried to pretend they didn’t. It was a city contracted job.
A problem one might run into with volunteering putting in the sidewalks is union members complaining that they’re being denied prevailing wages.