Thousands of people live within easy walking and biking distance of this site. If we miss out on the opportunity to get infrastructure that would make walking and biking reasonable options for people to get to Evergreen Plaza, we get more traffic congestion, air pollution, road rage and longer travel times to destinations we might reach via 95th and Western. All of this costs us in quality of life.
Here's a much better example from the north side. Note the ped refuge islands at the ends of the parking rows, the red-colored sidewalk along those islands and between the north-south parking rows, and crosswalks connecting the refuge islands. This design does not sacrifice a significant amount of parking and greatly improves walking conditions.
 |
| Proposed Evergreen Plaza site plan |
When the mall was still open, I and many neighbors walked there to shop at Carson's and other stores. I'm not about to get in the car, make traffic worse, and deal with all the traffic and parking hassles to go half a freakin' mile once it's open again.
If reducing car traffic and having safer access whether or not you drive to the Plaza makes a difference to you, please take a few minutes to write to the developer. Ask that half a lane or a lane of car parking be replaced with one or two east-west sidewalks within the parking lot so that people can walk through the parking lot with less risk of being hit.
Also ask for bike racks in 2 or more locations. This can make a difference both for customers and for store employees. Employees typically don't make a lot of money. If they can ride their bikes to work, it's an affordable option that may be faster than a bus, depending on where they live. Bike rack locations that might work well include 98th St. by the southeast corner of Carson's and near the health club. Access from 99th St. via Campbell or other adjacent streets is very workable if there's a place to lock up your bike. Please include an information link on bike parking, and emphasize that bike racks need to be decent quality and properly installed.
This is a great opportunity to make a positive difference. I don't know if they'll listen to us. We have nothing to lose by asking. Who's with me?
4 comments:
Ann, to whom have you directed comments? I just left a voicemail in Lormax Stern's general mailbox to ask who would be the point person for this.
On the Contact page for the developer, it says "for construction questions, contact our Director of Operations Karl Zarbo (kzarbo@lormaxstern.com)." If you get a response and you get other information, please share it here.
Zarbo wrote back and said:
Emily, thank you for your response. We have engaged the Architect that we have used for many years, on this project. We will install bike racks at this project as is our standard practice with new or major redevelopments. We do not install products that are not good quality or properly install. We are adding through access (east,west) from S. Western through to Campbell so that you can circulate the entire shopping center and enter/exit the property with greatly enhanced traffic flow. We will be adding substantial landscaping to the project to enhance both the look and the pervious/ impervious ratio as it relates to storm water management. Thanks Karl
I asked:
When you say that you are adding east-west access from Western, is that a sidewalk? When you say "with greatly enhanced traffic flow," it sounds like you're adding east-west car access rather than a sidewalk or bike path.
He responded:
We are adding an east west drive as was requested by the Village. We have no current plans for a bike path. Thanks Karl
I followed:
Karl, thanks for the information. I don't think the Village has adequately considered bike and pedestrian access, which is why I reached out. I personally would not feel comfortable biking or walking with my son on an active drive, as I'm sure you understand. That is one reason we stopped visiting Mariano's so often.
I hope you will consider tweaking your plan with this kind of access in mind. If you do, we will be enthusiastic customers and patrons!
My letter:
When I saw the site plan for Evergreen Plaza, I was disappointed but not surprised to see that no real accommodations have been made for people walking or biking to the Plaza. The government of Evergreen Park may not care about people walking or biking, but many of us who live nearby do care.
I live 1/2 mile from the Plaza and walked there when the old Plaza was still open, as did many of my neighbors. The intersection of 95th and Western is routinely choked by traffic at most hours of the day, even without the Plaza being open. 99th and Western isn't great either.
Thousands of people live within easy walking and biking distance of this site. If we miss out on the opportunity to get infrastructure that would make walking and biking reasonable options for people to get to Evergreen Plaza, we will get more traffic congestion, air pollution, road rage and longer travel times to destinations we might reach via 95th and Western or 99th and Western. All of this costs us in quality of life.
One of the things that is too often overlooked in mall development is that, even when people are using cars as their primary form of transportation to get to the mall, they still need to be able to walk safely from their cars to where they're going. We need 2 east-west sidewalks to allow people to walk safely across the parking lot between Western and the stores. This could be accomplished at a cost of 1/2 to 1 parking aisle, as in this example (https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0184938,-87.674819,55m/data=!3m1!1e3).
In many business districts, employees use bikes as transportation for much of the year - an affordable option that helps their income go further. Bike access from the 98th St. end of the site could be feasible from 99th via Maplewood, Campbell or Artesian. We need bike racks in at least 2 locations: at the 98th St. end of the property near the new entrance to Carson's and near 95th and Campbell for the health club. Here's a good set of guidelines for choosing bike racks and properly installing them. (http://www.dero.com/bike-parking-guide/) It's an inexpensive way to help the mall serve the community better.
Making it easier for people to access the mall by walking, biking or using transit allows the mall to serve more customers and to better meet employee needs without maxing out parking.
I hope that you will consider making these small changes to create a much mall that's much better for the community. Without these changes, I'm likely to take my business elsewhere.
Post a Comment