Phoenix Development News (3)

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

Nice work on garnering the attention about the fence. What really needs to be done next is to get a HAWK signal installed at 7th Street and Monroe so people can safely cross from the Heritage Square and core of downtown to the East.

That would be the shit! Never thought about it. Im off work tomorrow and can start on it. Where do i begin? What is the process?

I've nearly been hit a dozen or so times crossing 7 at Adams and would gladly use monroe if we had a hawk.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

That would be the shit! Never thought about it. Im off work tomorrow and can start on it. Where do i begin? What is the process?

I've nearly been hit a dozen or so times crossing 7 at Adams and would gladly use monroe if we had a hawk.

Well from what I've heard HAWK signals cost about 10K, so it would be a pricy project.

I think you'd have to talk to the Streets Dept. for starters. Joseph Perez (who's a real nice guy and very pro urban) may be the guy within streets to talk to. I know he's the City's Biking coordinator but I think he's also like the streets safety coordinator or something like that, and since this is an obvious safety related thing maybe he's the guy?

It seems like a pretty easy sell under the guise of "do it for the kids". You've got kids all over the Science Center and Heritage Square area all the time and at the Children's Museum as well of course, so safely connecting those two would be great. There's currently a crosswalk there, but nothing stopping traffic so its pretty dicey like you said.

[Vicelord John]

I talked to my dad this morning. He just got the city to do four roundabouts in his Maryvale neighborhood. He said that any unsafe situation HAS to be looked into immediately By the city. They may not put one in, but after my phone call referencig the very unsafe situation and the number of near pedestrian accidents I've seen, they will at least have to do a study. BTW, the roundabouts are $100,000 each an he got four. Hopefully the Hawk would be an easy do. I'm worried though they might say there are already enough protected crosswalks in the area.

Edit:

I talked to Ron Doubnik, the traffic signal engineer with the city, and he is going to put that crosswalk on a study next month. He said he also agrees it is a worthy location, but doesn't know if the study will agree (political non-commital speak.) Unfortunately, he said the city doesn't have money in his fund right now and the state is trying to take away how much Phoenix gets in terms of revenue sharing so it may get worse.

If his study deems that crosswalk worthy of a HAWK, I'll be passing around a neighborhood petition and then writing Michael Johnson with hopes of expediting funding. I want to get this thing done.

[HooverDam]

^Awesome, sounds promising

Not your neighborhood but another place I've always thought could use a HAWK is 7th St and Oak, to allow residents of Coronado to flow Westward towards Midtown, Monterrey Park, the LRT, etc. and to allow Midtown Museum District residents to flow Eastwards towards the retail along the East side of 7th and into the heart of Coronado and places like the Tuck Shop.

Ideally in the future I'd like the 7's to have signalized (HAWK or normal signals) every quarter mile from Jefferson to Missouri, that would go a long way to making them more pedestrian friendly corridors. So that would mean adding HAWKS to:

7th Street &:
Monroe
Oak
Earll
Clarendon
The Entrance to Indian School Park
The Grand Canal crossing
Colter

7th Ave &:
Adams or Monroe
Fillmore
Culver
Palm
Virginia
Indianola
Glenrosa (do they have one here already? I seem to recall one along the 7th Ave curve but Google streetview doesnt show any)
Grand Canal
Highland
Colter

But that would cost a ton and as we've seen with the recent Suicide lane debates the City has little interest in making Central Phx a more walkable, urban place, and cares more about getting people quickly to their homes in Moon Valley.

[combusean]

The stop sign on 7th Ave and Fillmore is probably my biggest reminder of how far downtown Phoenix has to go. That otherwise important downtown street would be a light and complicated traffic intersection connecting the other streets on the other side of 7th in any other major city.

[PHX31]

I went to Food Truck Fridays yesterday for lunch.. it was quite tasty. The same 7 or so trucks were there that always are but I tried something new. Most all of the stuff there is tasty and usually reasonably priced (haven't tried torched goodness and their $4-$5 small creme bruele).

But the cool thing is the Food Network was down there shooting for their new series "Eat Street". I can't find much info on the show online, and it might only be Food Network Canada, but regardless, it's nice to get any kind of recognition like that for the food trucks down there as well as the Phoenix Public Market (whose expansion is looking good). If it works at all like it did for Matt's Big Breakfast, it could get way more popular... which would be great for downtown phoenix.

P.S. just driving downtown yesterday was crazy... it was packed with people all over the place. sure it was lunch time, but still.

[Classical in Phoenix]

A buddy and I were there as well. I had a pretty awesome Chicken Jamburrito. Didn't try the creme bruele either, but I know the salt sea carmele sold out early.

[combusean]

How the heck are you guys having such a productive dialog with Streets? I can't even get called back for my simple request to paint parallel-parking cross hatches on 4th Avenue to cordon people into spaces that maximize efficiency.

Our complex's parking is all on the street, and what usually ends up happening at night is that 2 people are parked in a space big enough for 3 cars for most of the whole block.

BTW, HAWK lights run about $80,000. A full-fledged intersection runs about half a million.

[Vicelord John]

Do you call them sounding like a whine bag?

[combusean]

WTF? And no. I'm extremely friendly every time.

[Vicelord John]

hm. Do you reference it as a personal want, or do you sell it as something for the greater good?

[RTD]

Pardon my ignornace, but what does HAWK stand for?

[Vicelord John]

Hefty adolescents with kerosene

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by RTD

Pardon my ignornace, but what does HAWK stand for?

High-intensity Activated crossWalK signal, they look/work like this:

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

I talked to my dad this morning. He just got the city to do four roundabouts in his Maryvale neighborhood. He said that any unsafe situation HAS to be looked into immediately By the city. They may not put one in, but after my phone call referencig the very unsafe situation and the number of near pedestrian accidents I've seen, they will at least have to do a study. BTW, the roundabouts are $100,000 each an he got four. Hopefully the Hawk would be an easy do. I'm worried though they might say there are already enough protected crosswalks in the area.

Edit:

I talked to Ron Doubnik, the traffic signal engineer with the city, and he is going to put that crosswalk on a study next month. He said he also agrees it is a worthy location, but doesn't know if the study will agree (political non-commital speak.) Unfortunately, he said the city doesn't have money in his fund right now and the state is trying to take away how much Phoenix gets in terms of revenue sharing so it may get worse.

If his study deems that crosswalk worthy of a HAWK, I'll be passing around a neighborhood petition and then writing Michael Johnson with hopes of expediting funding. I want to get this thing done.

I think it would be a great place for a crosswalk but a full on Hawk is another thing. Where would you put? Adams? Monroe (which already has a crosswalk)? Half way in-between (makes most sense)?

Also anyone know what they ramada area just north of Rose & Crown and Nobuo is? Although one of the biggest complaints about Phoenix is a lack of shade, the ramada just looks like useless dead area.

After going taking a few friends to Heritage a few weeks ago, they absolutely loved it and never knew a place like this existed in Phoenix. Their biggest complaint was how isolated it was. They passed 7th St. several times and they never could imagine a place that vibrant existed. Taking down that ramada and putting in something that better interacts with the street could really draw more people there.

EDIT- Looks like that is the Lath House. Nice place to hold events I guess....

[dtnphx]

Phoenix officials work on park's master plan
by Connie Cone Sexton
The Arizona Republic

A new master plan for Margaret T. Hance Park is beginning, as Phoenix officials hope to determine possible amenities to add and problems to solve at the 32-acre site.

The Parks and Recreation Board agreed Thursday to create a steering committee to review the park's physical conditions and analyze a wish list of items community residents suggest be added. The park, which floats above Interstate 10 between Third Avenue and Third Street, is just south of McDowell Road.

Among the ideas: improved lighting, a skate plaza, fitness circuit, improved access for the disabled, art features, a bike station, outdoor market, restaurants and more shade.


"We're really excited about this community engagement," said Karen Williams, a deputy director in the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department. "This is our Central Park."

The steering committee will begin meeting next month and wrap up no later than September, parks board members said.

Since opening in 1992 as the Deck Park and later renamed Margaret T. Hance Park, the site features the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Irish Cultural Center and large expanses of grass. But it lacks the allure that city leaders hoped to see.

Constraints on the Phoenix budget kept the city from adding planned features such as an amphitheater and carousel.

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by bwonger06

I think it would be a great place for a crosswalk but a full on Hawk is another thing. Where would you put? Adams? Monroe (which already has a crosswalk)? Half way in-between (makes most sense)?

turning that crosswalk at Monroe into a HAWK is what I'm talking about. Sheesh...

and yes, the lath house is a place for weddings (they do about 5/6 a year) festival overflow, beer gardens for special events, etc. I'd say I've seen it used a couple dozen times in the 3 years I've lived across the street from it.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by bwonger06

I think it would be a great place for a crosswalk but a full on Hawk is another thing. Where would you put? Adams? Monroe (which already has a crosswalk)? Half way in-between (makes most sense)?

Try using the crosswalk on Monroe sometime, if you feel safe while crossing there, you're a brave, brave soul. 7th Street has 3 lanes of fast moving traffic going in each direction, plus a turn lane that cars are using. There's no place for pedestrians trying to wing it across 7th to stop midway either.

Now imagine trying to take a couple of kids from the Science Center or the Rosson House over to the Childrens Museum. It needs a proper HAWK signal pretty badly.

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

Try using the crosswalk on Monroe sometime, if you feel safe while crossing there, you're a brave, brave soul. 7th Street has 3 lanes of fast moving traffic going in each direction, plus a turn lane that cars are using. There's no place for pedestrians trying to wing it across 7th to stop midway either.

Now imagine trying to take a couple of kids from the Science Center or the Rosson House over to the Childrens Museum. It needs a proper HAWK signal pretty badly.

Yea I know the cross walk one Monroe is awful... especially at night. The downfall I see is the city might decline paying for a full HAWK because it is so close to the intersection at VB. If you put it half way in between Adams and Monroe, it would serve more people and maybe less redundant.

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by bwonger06

Yea I know the cross walk one Monroe is awful... especially at night. The downfall I see is the city might decline paying for a full HAWK because it is so close to the intersection at VB. If you put it half way in between Adams and Monroe, it would serve more people and maybe less redundant.

perhaps you're right (I agree with you) but I believe the crosswalk there is due to some "study" they have done. I doubt they would admit their study is wrong (studies never lie, you kno) and move the street crossing 100 feet to made it less redundant. It is government we are talking about here.

I would love to see a traffic signal installed at Adams, but outside of my own personal wants, and the wants of the rest of my complex's residents, it will never happen. I've almost been creamed by cars turning left out of Pizzeria Bianco while I'm trying to cross 7th to go somewhere. NB and SB traffic can be clear as a bell, but those few drunken idiots coming out of Heritage Square parking lot (the little one) can be downright scary. I kicked a guy's door in once after he almost hit me, and then had the audacity to scream at me like it was my fault. Fixing a door dent will cost more than sucking up your ego, ass face. This is where I agree with Hoover. I've crossed in the daylight so many times and it's nearly impossible to miss all the traffic. You can have clear NB lanes, and as soon as you start crossing, someone turns NB on 7th from Washington and you have to start running into the middle lane, then stop for SB traffic, when someone will almost undoubtedly want to get in the center lane to turn into Artisan or Renaissance. It mystifies me that I've been able to cross so many times w/o being hit yet, especially a couple of years ago when I would get black out drunk every night.

I'll tell you though, the scariest place, and the one that REALLY needs a crossing is Portland and 7th. I don't remember the last time I've driven by there either day or night, and someone wasn't crossing the street. This is worsened by the fact that they are usually intoxicated beyond belief, especially the indians that live in the apartments at 8th and Portland, as well as the ones who hang out at the bus stop there and the dino mart. The picture in my mind of the guy I watched get hit there will never go away. He was hit by a Nissan Titan doing easily 50+ and the driver got out of the truck with a beer can. I stood over that body and there was no doubt he was a gonner the second he was hit. That probably wasn't the first time its happened there, and it surely won't be the last.