Quote:
Originally Posted by frinkprof
How were "aldermanic muscles" flexed? Road closure decisions aren't made by the elected officials on council, including this one. The only "aldermanic muscle" there is, is to vote on motions to council. This did not happen.
Plus bicycles, motorcycles, buses, and some roads for transport trucks, and for the occasional closure when the space they take up is used for other purposes.
So what is your solution? Have every road closure application go through a screening process to determine if there are "good reasons?" Is a crane erection a good reason? Is an adjacent building demolition good reason? Tree removal, and if so, what species and size of trees are okay, and which ones aren't to warrant a closure for an afternoon? Work on overhead wires? Community block party?
Assuming a screening process, how do you propose it works? Does every one of the hundreds of road closure applications annually go to council, or are we going to draw up a list of what are and are not "good reasons" for closing lanes of a road and have the transportation department continue to deal with it? It would have to be every single road closure application, as it would be an unfair process any other way. If you politicize one by determining whether the reasons for them are good or not, you have to politicize them all.
How is this evidence of a "willy nilly decision?"
Decision breaks down as follows:
1. Application received and all information fields filled out correctly?
2. Application received "X" days before date of proposed closure?
3. Do traffic counts for duration of proposed closure meet current standards for allowing lane closures?
If answer is "no" to any of the above, closure denied. Otherwise, closure granted.
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I can still disagree with the decision. I don't think the rationale to close the roads was good enough. I don't care what was decided. Based on the information provided before, and the lack of success of the event itself - it wasn't a good enough reason in my opinion.
I'm not suggesting every road closure goes to a council vote - but I am suggesting that city administration made a bad call in this case - and are as much of a problem at city hall as council itself.
In my opinion an alderman had a dumb idea - pushed it through - and got the road closed. And now we have this silly event that know one really understands what it's for, why it exists and for the most part don't attend.