I've been tracking the 10 day forecast
Day 10 high 24
Day 9 high 13
Day 8 high 14
Day 7 High 8
Day 6 High 4
CRAP!! After Saturday we will warm up again into the 30s but we have two strong fronts hitting us this week. A One Two punch - I really don't think that 4 degree forecast will hold up but even doubling that sucks.
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The big thing in City Council is all about sidewalks which I am a big proponent for but as always there are problems. This is what Lisa Cestkowski writes in the Columbus Journal.
Council weighs pros, cons to adding sidewalks on Charles Street
Trees or sidewalks? That was the question before the Columbus City Council Committee of the Whole Tuesday night as aldermen discussed this summer’s residential street reconstruction project.
Specifically, the council was trying to decide what to do with the five blocks on the south side of Charles Street where no sidewalk exists currently. If one is put in as part of the reconstruction project, and placed at the standard location of a foot off the property line, up to 20 mature trees would have to be removed, city engineer Jason Lietha said.
The city has an ordinance in place today requiring all new developments to include sidewalks on both sides of the street, but in some older neighborhoods, like on Charles Street, there are gaps in coverage.
“This is why your ordinance says to put them in on both sides, because once you don’t, you have all these obstacles to deal with at a later date,” Lietha said.
Lietha also presented the council with several alternatives to the standard foot-off-the-property-line sidewalk installation. For instance, sidewalks could be placed adjacent to the curb which would save some of the trees, but that would create snow storage issues and make it more difficult to construct the sidewalk at the driveway openings. Another option would be to have meandering sidewalks and varying width terraces.
“I think we could save a lot of cost if we had the flexibility to put the sidewalk in using what’s there for natural grades and working around the trees,” Lietha said.
Even with the meandering sidewalk option, some of the trees would have to come down. Lietha estimated that maybe half to two-thirds of the trees could be saved.
Several aldermen spoke in favor of meandering sidewalks and giving the engineers flexibility in the design.
Alderman Rod Melotte characterized choosing between trees and sidewalks as a “a dagger in the heart decision” and said he wouldn’t mind going without a sidewalk on the south side of those five blocks, considering the issues there and the fact that a sidewalk exists on the other side of the street.
Council President Michael Thom said he didn’t like the idea of taking down healthy trees, either, but he felt it was important for the city to have a consistent sidewalk policy.
“If we say that’s impossible, we’re not going to do it, any time you go to an old neighborhood, where there are a couple blocks missing and you’re trying to connect one end of town to the other, that’s going to happen every time,” Thom said. “There are going to be utility poles there, there are going to be plenty of reasons that you don’t do it.”
Aldermen Rick Royem and Regan Rule, who represent the 1st District where Charles Street is located, volunteered to knock on doors and talk to homeowners in the area about the options.
That is all I'll say on that subject at the moment.*****************************
Why Is Columbus an island of cheap gas ?? No really, why is it. Gas is 1.43 to 1.47 in Columbus and 1.59 in most places NOT Columbus. We have been 15 cents cheaper then everybody for a month now!
OK - I'm brain dead.
Have a day
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