Viaduct demolition is a community tragedy.

No, I am not sentimental about the bridge. Not one bit. But I am really disturbed that the people making this decision--car-owners, all--are setting up a situation that puts pedestrians at much increased danger.

This past year I put a few things out there about the Viaduct.  Unless there is an 11th hour halt to the demolition, it's all basically over. Just one more destructive car culture decision that ignores the actual needs of pedestrians and communities.

Why post these now? Well, as I said I did share these things earlier. But I want to put them out there again, because even if/when the bridge is gone, I want to do my part to make it know what a stupid, wasteful and dangerous decision this was.

Video tour
This past March I went to the Viaduct with my camera and took people on a video tour, especially trying to explain why the alternative bridge was unsafe. I did it on the spur of the moment, after City Council voted against a public hearing.

Senior walker weighing in about Viaduct and safety
Sent this letter to the editor in February:

I am almost 65, and have been an avid walker all my life. A walker doesn’t get to that age without some basic sense of street safety.

So let me just say this. The city is removing the viaduct under the mistaken notion that the bridge at 12th & Bayfront Parkway is a safe alternative. It most certainly is not. The viaduct may be only a block away, but the traffic situation is much more intense at 12th & Bayfront. Yes, there are traffic lights, but the risk of a problem is greatly increased, especially at rush hour.

I often used the viaduct when I worked in the area several years ago. I never used the Bayfront bridge, in large part because I didn’t feel safe at that crossing.

I walked that bridge for the first time a couple weeks ago. Besides the intersection, I noticed a couple other things. (1) exhaust fumes from traffic (2) it had been snowing heavily, and a plow sprayed snow onto the sidewalk; pedestrians would have had no escape.(3) I also wondered what would happen when the sidewalk was full of plowed snow, and guessed some children might try to walk in the street.

These safety concerns have never been adequately addressed. I am not “emotional” about the bridge. I am, however, deeply worried that the city is removing the safest passage through that area, and is expecting children and others to use an intersection that I personally plan to never use again. 

Deb Spilko Erie PA

Photos investigating reports of crumbling bridge.
These are some photos I took this past summer. I kept hearing about how decrepit and crumbling the bridge is, so I walked underneath from one end to the other. I walked from end to end and back, taking photos at regular intervals (I took several dozen photos). I did not see anything resembling crumbling, and it would certainly have been safe enough as a pedestrian bridge. I realize there is more to determining the safety of a bridge than just looking at it. My point was, look here, it is not crumbling and chunks aren't falling on trains and people like detractors were saying.
Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

would employees park under a crumbling bridge?

I lightened this so you could see the condition of the underside.

 

Lightened so you can see it better

 

    

 I think the "crumbly" pillar was actually hit by a truck, and the crumbles were not affecting structure.

 

Surface is not in best shape but just seem to be surface issues.

Applications for EMTA board being taken now

Stating a problematic history, Mayor Joe Schember and County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper have asked for and received the resignations of all EMTA board members. They are hoping that with all new board members they will able to have a fresh start.
They are taking applications until September 17, 2018.

• To apply for city appointment: e-mail  resume and qualifications to Mayor Joe Schember at jschember@erie.pa.us or to Renee Lamis, Schember’s chief of staff, at rlamis@erie.pa.us.
• County appointment: e-mail County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper at countyexecutive@eriecountypa.gov, or Kristin Bowers, the county’s public information officer, at kbowers@eriecountypa.gov.

BACKGROUND
Schember, Dahlkemper move forward with plans to remake EMTA board (GoErie) 
Dahlkemper and Schember wipe out board members of EMTA following disastrous meeting  (YourErie) 

What's going on with shelter schedule panels?

Schedule panels were removed at least a month ago, with no explanation. This can be problematic for people whose phone battery has died or who are unfamiliar with the system. It can hold up buses when riders stop a driver and ask if they know when such and such a route is coming.
Is there a reason for removing this important information? Is a schedule change coming?
EMTA, talk to us please.

Ridership Issues at EMTA 2015 to 4/2018

This document was originally started in the summer of 2017, largely in response to PennDOT’s findings regarding loss of Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA) ridership for the period 2015-2016. It was never submitted or posted.

I expanded it to cover the period up to April 30, 2018.
PLEASE NOTE: This document covers the period from January 2015 through April 30, 2018. I have cut it off at that date to create a clear demarcation between the period in this document and the start date of the new executive director.
Before sharing with others, I first sent the document to the new director as a courtesy in early June 2018.

Apologies for the exasperated tone, but the situation was getting exasperating. 

Read document here.

Trains and Trolleys ~ Local info & fun

An assortment of local train and trolley info bits.

• Waldameer was originally built by the local trolley company Around the turn of the last century, amusement parks were built by trolley companies to encourage people to use the service on weekends. The trolley company that built Waldameer in 1896 was called Erie Electric Motor Company. Waldameer is one of about a dozen trolley parks still in operation.
• Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East PA grounds are open to the public all year. Museum is free but donations are appreciated, and it includes a gift shop. The CSX tracks run close by (fenced off, by the way); you can sit on the bench and watch the trains go by. Museum is free but donations are appreciated, and it includes a gift shop. They also have events like lunch aboard a train, free public programs, and Christmas at the Station.
• Brewerie at Union Station  Brewerie at Union Station is a brew pup and restaurant complex fashioned from Erie's grand old train station. It includes several environments, including a trackside beer garden. It's located at 123 W 14th St. Brewerie at Union Station History
• All Aboard Dinor in Lake City PA is an old train station that was turned into a rail-themed diner (or “dinor” if you want to use the local spelling!) The diner is right next to the tracks, so you can watch the trains roll by while enjoying your meal. The restaurant is at 2203 Rice Ave, Lake City, PA 16423
• Trolley Station Museum in Cambridge Springs opened in 2017. They restored the trolley station, which had been built by Erie Traction Co. to during the heyday of the trolley and the town’s destination as a spa. Open June through fall. Info Sandy Porter 814-282-6449 or Dan Higham at 720-4869.
• Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad offers 27-mile excursions through Oil Creek State Park. The 1892 vintage train station has a museum, gift shop and full concessions stand. If you are staying over, they have a reasonably priced Caboose Motel, that is, several actual cabooses turned into comfy places to stay, fitted with beds, furnishings, and modern electricity and bathrooms.  The park is really pretty, and the  Oil Creek State Park Trail--built on an old trail bed--offers another option for cyclists and hikers.
  
•  Thomas the Train attraction is being built at Pittsburgh’s Kennywood Park set for opening this summer. Thomas Town™  has rides (including Thomas!), stage show, beloved characters, soft play area, and more. Update: A few issues with Kennywood's Thomas, and a few other rides this season.
• Amtrak still serves Erie.  Every day, it runs east and west between Chicago and New York/Boston, roughly following I-90. You can of course catch connections to go beyond Chicago or New York. Snowbirds and vacationers might consider the Auto-Train, which goes from the Washington DC area to the Orlando Florida area, carrying you, your stuff, and your vehicle.

Lakeshore Railway Museum in North East PA

Amtrak's 7:20am Lakeshore Limited stopping in Erie on its way east towards Boston and New York.

A little less grand than old Union Station, but the current Amtrak station (still in the Union Station complex)  is clean, well-lit, and has helpful station management.

Caboose Motel in Titusville PA, with 21 actual cabooses fitted with plumbing, furnishings and electricity.

Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad, Perry Street, Titusville PA

Brewery at Union Station is a brew pup and restaurant complex fashioned from Erie's grand old train station.

 

Alcohol abusers hanging out at bus stops

10th & Peach bar stool, 3pm weekday. Riders had to stand.

Let me just start with this. I struggled with alcohol abuse for 15 years. It did not take this public  form, but I know very well what it is like to have an addiction and not be able to just walk away from it. I also know that I would not have wanted to spend time around the drunken me…not then, and not now.

And it can’t be said that I won the battle. I just aged out of it. My body changed, and with it, my ability to abuse alcohol.

So do not even start with me about being judgmental about their drinking. The only thing I am addressing here is people who use the bus benches and shelters for drinking hangouts.

Like most riders, I just don’t like the idea of people using the bus stop benches as bar stools and gathering spots. And it has become worse since the city has been routing inebriated persons from the parks.

The obvious issue is, if someone is using a bench as a bar stool, that is one less rider who can be comfortable awaiting their bus. And far too often it is not just the drunken butt taking up room. The 12 pack of high octane beer needs a seat as well. And the arms often need to sprawl in either direction along the back of the bench.

At 5th & State shelter, removed in 2017 as a nuisance

The takeover of the space isn’t just physical. The presence of a noticeably drunk person can make a space seem unpleasant or unsafe. A person who is drunk may be obnoxious, aggressive, sexual,  and/or loud. Also, their presence becomes a magnet for their drinking buddies, or some of the other downtown denizens.  Recently a guy at 9^th & Peach was enthusiastically talking about a great party they had  there, “Drinkin, getting high, there must have 25 or 30 of us that day!” Bet that was great fun for old people waiting on their buses too.

It also has a negative impact on how people feel about city buses. Riders whose stop has been turned into a bar stool can feel uncomfortable and unsafe about using the bus. For businesses or the general public, it can add to already unfair and stigmatized attitudes about “bus-people,” especially when there are multiples of people making it a party stop.  Just last year, the 5^th & State shelter was removed because it had been taken over by obnoxious non-riders, many of them inebriated, and had become a terrible nuisance. I had tried to use the shelter a couple time before it was removed; there were a bunch of guys just hanging out in there and it really was unpleasant and intimidating.

I don’t know what the solution is. I know it is complicated by the concern that taking action might be seen as picking on the homeless (FYI: bus stop drinking does not equal homelessness) or persons with mental illness, abuse issues, or lower incomes.  Those are all very important issues, but it seems to me you weaken their importance if you tie them to a substance abuser’s “right” to crowd out bus riders on bus property. 

10th & Parade. I tried to wake him up so I could sit down but he was conked out on Steel Reserve.

See also: Pickles, Butts, and PhDs