Bow River Flow

[urban1]

You are the one that is confused.

Druh Farrell originally proposed that Memerial Drive be closed every Sunday in August. The idea was to create a promenade where people could walk, bike, inline skate, etc. You can search and find details of how this worked its way through council but it eventually got down to closing Memorial for only one Sunday in August. There was series of motions brought up by other council members but the planned closure never got defeated.

With the closure approved for only on Sunday, the plan for a festival emerged as something in addition to just giving pedestrians and cyclists access to the road.

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

This issue wouldn't have even come up if the festival wasn't in the works. If nothing was in the works, no one would have asked to close the road. It costs money to close a road, you don't just close a road without a reason.

Also, why does everyone think this is organized by Druh Farrell? Did she even have anything to do with organizing the festival? There is no mention of her name on the website (other names are mentioned). I'm guessing the media attached her name to the festival, back when the council was debating the idea, and she was in support of the festival, AND that it's in her ward.

And that brings us to the third misconception, and that is Council voted to have the road closure. They did no such thing. All they did was debate whether they should have a say in who can close a road or not (provided that the proper payments are made). They very rightly came to the conclusion that they don't have a say in that, as that is what the transportation department is for. They do the determining. Plus, any citizen has always been able to get a temporary road closure. I've done in personally myself. Council can set the priorities for the transportation dept, but they don't need to be involved in every minor little decision. That is the issue here.

Thanks to the media for totally misleading most people in the city on this one.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Also, why does everyone think this is organized by Druh Farrell? Did she even have anything to do with organizing the festival? There is no mention of her name on the website (other names are mentioned). I'm guessing the media attached her name to the festival, back when the council was debating the idea, and she was in support of the festival, AND that it's in her ward..

Actually the whole thing was her idea. That's why.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

That's the thing. When Druh Farrell proposed closing Memorial for FOUR Sundays, there were no plans. No festivals, no concerts, no activities, nothing.

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/colum...99966-sun.html

No mention of a festival of any kind. Just an absolute moron of an alderman proposing to close a major road four times "just to have fun". It wasn't until after this idiotic scheme got approved, though only for one day instead of four, that an entirely separate group threw together a half assed attempt at a festival. Good on them for trying, but as noted, there was no need to close the road down.

Basically, Farrell came up with a hairbrained and poorly thought out scheme, got approval for only one shut down instead of four, had someone else do the work for her, and now is in full revisionist history mode, trying to pretend that this entire thing was what she planned from the start.

I'll definitely admit that it's hard to know the truth, because only details that I have are the ones reported by the media, and I know the media was often misguiding when the debate for this event went on. Micheal Platt's article makes you believe that the idea for this was from Druh herself, but it doesn't actually say that. It just says she took the idea to council, it could have been someone else's idea. If a group in her ward was planning it, that would be the logical step to take - get the ward alderman on board. Perhaps the group had an idea in mind, perhaps even to so it four weeks in a row, took it to the alderman, who brought the idea to council, then when there was a little bit of backlash, the group decided to just try one day first.

got approval for only one shut down instead of four,

Like I said, this was never a matter of getting approval. You or I could walk down to city hall today and pay for the closure of two lanes of Memorial Drive. Of course, it being a larger road, it would be subject to the Transportation dept's approval, but if the traffic numbers still work (which they do in this case), the Tranportation dept is never going to say no. Like I said, council didn't vote to approve the closures, they voted not to open up these things to council vote - which would set a precedent that could have negative outcomes down the road.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Actually the whole thing was her idea. That's why.

Whether it was, or wasn't her idea, I'm not sure why it even matters.

[urban1]

Druh? Is that you posting?

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Whether it was, or wasn't her idea, I'm not sure why it even matters.

I was just clarifying her involvement since you seemed to be confused about it.

[Resolute 14]

If such a group actually existed when Farrell's half thought out idea came public, we would have known then, and the uproar would have been much less than it was.

As I said, the group that did organize the Bow River Flow deserves credit for making the attempt. They made something out of one of the more ridiculously stupid ideas created by any member of city council in some time. And hell, if they manage to promote it into an annual thing that creates a legitimate need to shut the road down, then more power to them.

But Farrell deserves no credit for this. Someone else gave use to her idiocy, but her idiocy is still defined by wanting to close a major road for four weekends with no thought as to what purpose it would serve.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

If such a group actually existed when Farrell's half thought out idea came public, we would have known then, and the uproar would have been much less than it was.

As I said, the group that did organize the Bow River Flow deserves credit for making the attempt. They made something out of one of the more ridiculously stupid ideas created by any member of city council in some time. And hell, if they manage to promote it into an annual thing that creates a legitimate need to shut the road down, then more power to them.

But Farrell deserves no credit for this. Someone else gave use to her idiocy, but her idiocy is still defined by wanting to close a major road for four weekends with no thought as to what purpose it would serve.

No it doesn't make it legitimate. A festival created for the sake of trying to lend legitimacy to a road closure for the sake of a road closure isn't a legitimate festival in my books. It's just a bunch of anti-car losers trying to shut down a busy road adjacent to a perfectly good pathway that already satisfies everyone's biking, walking and inlineskating needs. There was no need, purpose, or function for Memorial Drive getting shut down period. I don't support this happening anytime again. There's plenty of venues that would work even better without limiting road capacity.

[Resolute 14]

That's what it is today, but if the group that created it manages to stick with it long enough to make it a legit festival, I think they should be encouraged to do so.

[You Need a Thneed]

I still think its loony to think that lane closures would have even been talked about if the festival wasn't AT LEAST being talked about already, and very likely close to becoming a reality.

And to back up what I have said, here's what happened in council:

Originally Posted by May 11 2009 - combined meeting of council - minutes

NOTICES OF MOTION, DATED 2009 MAY 11
NM2009-23 MEMORIAL DRIVE LANE CLOSURES
(Aldermen Connelly, Colley-Urquhart, Mciver and Stevenson)
WHEREAS Memorial Drive serves as a vital east-west transportation corridor in the city with
average weekday traffic volumes of 35,000 vehicles per day between 4th Street and 10th Street
NW;
AND WHEREAS Calgarians have access to over 800 kilometers of bicycle paths in the city,
many of which provide direct access to and along the Bow River;
AND WHEREAS there are several pedestrian linkages from communities both north and south
of the Bow River providing access the Bow River pathway and adjoining park spaces;
AND WHEREAS 16th Avenue North is not a viable alternate route due to construction scheduled
over the summer months;
AND WHEREAS parking in the area is very limited and therefore significantly restricts the
enjoyment of this area by all Calgarians;
AND WHEREAS some area merchants have expressed concerns about vital access to their
businesses that could impact revenues during these challenging economic times;
AND WHEREAS the City of Calgary has a prescribed process in place for lane and road
closures to accommodate community special events.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that all lanes of Memorial Drive remain fully open to traffic
every day in August 2009.

Note that Farrell DID NOT take this to council. The council objectors brought the whole issue up.

[Bigtime]

It sounds to me like some of you should have come down, strolled and relaxed and just chilled out.

Forget all the political stuff, just enjoy each and every day.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

It sounds to me like some of you should have come down, strolled and relaxed and just chilled out.

Forget all the political stuff, just enjoy each and every day.

But it's so much easier to just b*tch and complain over the internets machine about some issue that has zero significance.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Note that Farrell DID NOT take this to council. The council objectors brought the whole issue up.

I could be reading it that completely wrong.. but to me it looks like Aldermen Connelly, Colley-Urquhart, Mciver and Stevenson are bringing up reason to keep all lanes of traffic on memorial open during August 2009. That would be 4 alderman against the Farrell's idea of closing 2 lanes of traffic on every sunday in august.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Bunk

But it's so much easier to just b*tch and complain over the internets machine about some issue that has zero significance.

Why don't you try to actually engage in the discussion instead of just trying to be clever with little drive-bys.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by arsenal

I could be reading it that completely wrong.. but to me it looks like Aldermen Connelly, Colley-Urquhart, Mciver and Stevenson are bringing up reason to keep all lanes of traffic on memorial open during August 2009. That would be 4 alderman against the Farrell's idea of closing 2 lanes of traffic on every sunday in august.

No, there was no motion by Druh to have a closure, as there is no need to. That kind of stuff doesn't go through council. Like I said, You or I can go down to city hall today and pay for lanes to be closed on Memorial Drive.

This is the only motion relating to this issue. The opposers tried to use their power in council to prevent this specific festival from happening. Similar events close down more roads with greater consequences to drivers quite often in this city. It made no sense to single this one event out and say it couldn't happen. Especially when Memorial drive could easily handle Sunday afternoon traffic even with two lanes closed. Like I said, certainly not a precedent that council wants to set.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by fotze

But you are bitching about people bitching about insignificant events, which is even less significant.

If I bitch about you bitching about his bitching, will we start an unending cycle of bitching that will swallow all of us in some sort of a black hole?

[MelBridgeman]

Ah i see...it is no longer a democracy if WE can't bitch!

[octothorp]

I'm really on both sides on this argument;

On the one-side: Despite whatever Druh's original intentions were, the launch of this event was completely boondoggled. Druh is not good at building consensus behind the scenes and then rolling it out. As it was, the festival seemed very hastily thrown together (which, by all accounts, it was), and the partial road closure was also handled poorly, with backed up traffic that made it unpleasant to use the empty road. The lack of events was unfortunate. And there was really nothing that had anything to do with the river. They should have had some events like a fun-triathalon, walking/rafting/biking. Though I understand what they were going for in making it all free and without onsite vendors, the lack of food service was also a detriment. Wouldn't it be great if there was an on-site beer garden overlooking the river, where you could just sit and have a beer on the banks of the river? And similarly some coffee service. Get a NPO to run it and keep the profits, so that it keeps the original, non-commercial approach. Have a road-hockey tournament, rather than just putting out some nets for people to use. Get celebrity teams. Have a dog agility demonstration (like they have at halftime at football games); those are a lot of fun to watch. Have a music stage. (I thought there was supposed to be one, but I didn't see it). Get Shakespeare in the Park or some other theatre companies to come over and do a show. More buskers. It needs to be absolutely packed with activities - both to participate in and to watch - rather than just having a handful of activities sprinkled through the whole day.

On the other hand, the people complaining about the traffic (from the original objecting aldermen to the people stuck in traffic) are far worse. This was probably the most publicized single-day road closure in recent Calgary history, and anyone who got stuck in traffic has themselves to blame; signs were posted along Memorial to the west, and I assume they were posted to the east as well. It takes the more or less the same amount of time to turn at 10th, go over the bridge and along the one-ways through downtown as it does going on Memorial (at least on a Sunday). In future years, I hope they shut down the entire road and rout traffic elsewhere. Nobody complains about the fact that the same stretch of Memorial (actually a longer stretch, all the way to Bridgeland) is shut down every May for a marathon. Infact, nobody even notices unless you're involved in the run or live in the area.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by fotze

Did cars burn down 5A street to shortcut?

Surprisingly not much. The east-bound traffic wasn't nearly as heavy as west-bound. I saw some people complaining about it in the paper, but I'd say it was less than a typical weekday afternoon; I can't help thinking that they were the result of leading questions rather than honest observations. As well, I think most of the people using Memorial on a Sunday probably aren't as familiar with the area and weren't aware of exactly how you can cut through the neighbourhood.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Nobody complains about the fact that the same stretch of Memorial (actually a longer stretch, all the way to Bridgeland) is shut down every May for a marathon. Infact, nobody even notices unless you're involved in the run or live in the area.

That's because it's a valid reason to close the road - which people don't have a problem with.