The emergency closing of the Sherman Minton bridge needs to be addressed with adroitness. Newspaper accounts put the daily traffic flow across that span at upwards of 70,000 vehicles a day. The ability of the two remaining car bridges, the Kennedy Bridge and the Clark Memorial Bridge, are woefully inadequate to handle the sudden increase in traffic which they will face for the duration of the closing of the Sherman Minton Bridge.
Some have called for reliance on car pools,staggered shifts, and flexible work hours to meet the challenge. This wake up call underscores the foolishness of ignoring maintenance. It points out at the local level the compromised status of our infrastructure. It should represent a true national challenge, something like the "Sputnik moment" of the late fifties. It should force us to question the sense of putting all the eggs of our transportation system in the single basket of personal automobile commuting.
It should, and it could, but it probably won't. And it certainly won't by Monday morning when some kind of "geddon" will await those damned to make the trip by car to Louisville and back to meet the requirements of their jobs.
So here's a modest, perhaps counter intuitive, proposal of how we might muddle through this "cartastrophe" in the coming weeks.
Close the Clark Memorial Bridge to personal vehicles. Allow that span to carry only buses and emergency vehicles on the traffic lanes. Pedestrians and cyclists could use the sidewalks. It will do commuters little good to jump on a bus which will be stuck in barely moving traffic. There will be little incentive for car drivers to leave their cars parked if there is no expedited way of crossing the river. If buses are given free flow through designated streets and a green light at the Clark Bridge, I think those who see the buses rolling as the car bound sit mired in traffic may quickly decide that, at least during this particularly trying period, it would be wise to rely on mass transit.
It would be up to transportation experts to figure out how neophyte bus riders can be directed to their destinations once they've successfully crossed the river and de-bused at Union Station or some other central point. The first and biggest obstacle will be the bridge crossing itself.
The need to provide for easy cross-river travel of emergency vehicles is simply obvious on its face.
Once normalcy returns to daily traffic patterns it will be up to us as a community to recognize the vulnerability of our transportation non-system and proceed with a reasoned discussion of Twenty First Century alternatives. The alarm has sounded. Will there be sufficient will to meet the challenges and prepare for a better future?
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22 comments:
ok big boy lets see you put your money where your mouth is, you tarc it until the sherman minton is fixed
It's the whole system that would need to happen to make this feasible... not just riding TARC as is. Good idea Mr. Gonder.
gonder is sadly mistaken if he thinks you can restrict a bridge's use to only buses as he suggests. he is a typical big talking know nothing liberal of convenience, like I said tarc it big boy and quit talking about how to fix something when you wont even take your own advice
better option support the new bridge even if it means tolls
Thanks, Troy.
Anonymous:
Leaving aside our usual hate/hate relationship which usually ends in my pushing the "delete comment" button, I'll respond to your comment.
Whether you support the communistic precepts of bus riding or whether you support the libertarian philosophy involving canoes and zip lines across the river, the fact remains, it will be difficult to move an additional 70,000-80,000 cars daily on a bridge that is now at capacity and almost daily has rather long traffic delays.
Let's build the east end bridge to alleviate the bottleneck. I'm on board with that. Do you think it will be done next week or next year? Large scale projects take time, and with a well-funded, devoted group working against the project through the inclusion of a poison pill in the guise of the downtown bridge, it is likely to face more delays.
As it stands now we may be ready to acquiesce to a two bridge plan. Interestingly, the second bridge may be a new Sherman Minton Bridge.
I don't know who Troy is.
John,
I like the idea of busses crossing the Clark Bridge. Louisville has those trolley's running all around and Norton's has those vans for the employees. Maybe something could be worked out for downtown workers and TARC could take people to the "outer reaches" like Shelbyville Rd and Dixie Highway.
ok big boy, again you dodge the question, are you going to tarc it until the bridge is fixed? You suggested others should so are you going to lead by example?
John,
Those sidewalks on the Clark bridge are deadly for cyclists, so they really belong on the street. But I agree with you -- the crisis is now, and we need some creative solutions, not wishful thinking about some far-off panacea.
Anonymous:
I meant to include this in the earlier reponse.
In your mind's eye, getting on a bus must be the result of prodding by a bayonette toting German soldier sending you to a camp.
In my mind's eye, I step on the bus read the paper for some time and get off the bus near my place of employment. I do my eight hours(after having walked to nearby places for lunch and errands)get back on the bus and come home.
For me that doesn't work because my job is in New Albany. I travel on that job on my employer's behalf. I don't go to the same place every day, and when I'm there it is for brief periods of time.
I'm not suggesting that everybody be corraled and shiped by bus to their jobs. I'm simply saying that when faced with the unusual circumstance of what probably constitutes 40% or more of our transportation system going down temporarily, it makes sense to, at least temporarily, alleviate some of that over burdening of the remaining system by taking a bus to work if one works in a setting conducive to such.
I'm also saying it is dangerous to block up all lanes of travel in the event emergency vehicles need to cross the river.
So, between your view of coerced bus travel and my view of convenient, pleasant bus travel lay many thousands of people who could reasonably take the bus to work, at least temporarily, and not add to the congestion. A possible outcome would be that through that experience, some of them would remain as committed bus riders.
The End
ok then, i trust you will tarc it on your off work hours when you want to go to Louisville then to set the example right John
once again, you dodge the question gutless, will you tarc it to louisville when you arent working and want to go to louisville?
john gonder for council at large yeh right!!!!
Once again you put the animus in anonymous.
I'll ride TARC when I can.
And you obviously didn't grasp the point of what I was saying anyway so there's no need for further exchange.
I suppose you hold the same animosity toward Jeffersonville officials for starting the ferry service.
Offering ideas should not be seen to be a personal attack.
prove you will ride tarc, document it and I will believe you, but I dont trust your words because you are a double talking politician
I guess I'll need your name and address so I can send you my transfers.
You can just write it here.
san them and post them here big boy
scan
Anonymous:
I don't have a scanner.
And you don't have the guts to stand behind your comments with an identity.
I do, however, have a delete comment key.
oh like they dont have a scanner at walmart?
Anon:
You are making a fool of yourself with your infantile posts. Stop wasting your time and go find an anger management support group.
Ruthanne
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