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| Ramiro "One Lane Is Enough" Gonzalez |
The agenda item to be considered in Public Hearing this Tuesday is the work of Brownsville's goofy, dynamic duo of Ramiro Gonzalez and Roman McAllen. Ramiro considers the book on his desk, The High Cost of Free Parking to be the Holy Scriptures of downtown planning while Roman McAllen allegedly works on his family's downtown residence on city time and is the city's only actual bicycle tourist.
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| City Planner II, Roman McAllen |
Currently, 6th Street is three lanes of traffic off the Interstate into downtown. One of those lanes becomes a mere left turn lane after it crosses Ringgold, with traffic required by arrow to exit left at Madison Street.
Ramiro and Roman want the right lane morphed into "bicycle only," with the middle lane left as the only "through traffic" lane to accommodate the thousands of annual Charro Days downtowners from Ringgold to Madison.
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
6. Public Hearing, and ACTION thereafter, regarding the request to approve the narrowing East 6th Street, from three lanes of traffic to two lanes, expanding the sidewalk adjacent to the Gladys Porter Zoo property, adding landscaping, and providing a bicycle connection from Belden Trail to East Harrison Street.(Ramiro Gonzalez-Planning and Doroteo Garcia-Engineering) [TABLED ON 06/17/2014]
The city's sometimes newspaper, the Brownsville Herald, reported that some citizens questioned the need of losing a lane of traffic to bicycles when a mere 20 yards to the left, inside the grassy strip between E. 6th and E. 7th Street known as Linear Park, exists a seldom used hike and bike trail: "Commissioner Rose Gowen, who spoke at the meeting, said stakeholders — most notably officials at Gladys Porter Zoo — had questioned the necessity of a bike lane running parallel and nearly adjacent to the Historic Battlefield Hike and Bike Trail."
Below is my rough drawing of the area. Notice the Old Battlefield Bike Trail between E. 6th and E. 7th Street. Why in the hell would city planners want to close one lane of 6th Street for a bike lane when, just 50 feet away exists a seldom used, landscaped bike trail. The answer below.
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Here is the explanation given in the Brownsville Herald:
"However, the room was unmoved until Assistant City Manager Ruth Asuna took the floor at about 12:30 p.m. and noted the time. Asuna, who up until that point had been taking notes from the meeting, explained the situation the city faces concerning funding. The $150,000 the city was considering to use for sidewalk improvements was federal money that the Texas Department of Transportation would provide for projects only up until August, she explained. TxDOT approved sidewalk enhancements on 6th Street last week, and red tape would make it hard for the city to get another project approved in time to take advantage of the funding."
In simple language, the city is doing something illogical, stupid, asinine, against public interests, for $150,000 in free money? That says a lot about our brain dead city government.
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| Entrance to Old Battlefield Hike & Bike Trail |
Incidentally, I recently spent four hours at the Filemon Vila Federal Court House at 600 E. Harrison, reporting for potential jury duty. Two hours were spent in the lobby on the 3rd floor, waiting to be called by lawyers in an illegal gun purchasing case. For most of those two hours I stared out the window down into the mouth of the Old Battlefield Hike & Bike Trail. Despite the fact that the City of Brownsville claimed that in a grant application to extend the trail through downtown Brownsville that the trail experienced over "1,000 riders daily," I did not see a single rider.
That tiny mind in an immense ball of lard Ramiro Gonzales, is so immersed in his grandiosity, that he will be remembered as Brownsville's dumbest parasite in City's payroll of all times.
ReplyDeleteWe have the fattest, poorest, least educated population in the US here in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, governed by the greediest, most corrupt politicians. Any thing that gets them out of their (uninsured) automobiles and away from their televisions is probably a good thing. The go to solution for every problem down here seems to be "tear it down and pave over it", and any deviation from the "norm" meets a wall of opposition. Maybe change isn't as bad as you might think, especially considering the state we're in now. Have you tried bicycling in Brownsville lately? If you can safely avoid people "driving stupid", you just might enjoy it, and improve your health and attitude.
ReplyDeleteBitching and bitching and bitching isn't getting you anywhere with City Hall, Jim. That's clear.
ReplyDeleteI live in one of the WORST streets in Brownsville, near a high school, near two major traffic streets. Every time I call so they can cover the potholes, I am asked the same questions, and at the end they put a quick fix and the problem continues. I remember one time I sent pictures to the person in charge of public works via email, I NEVER got a response from anyone. The last time I called with the pothole problem, I was told by one of the people taking the reports that I would be transfered to public works and to ask the secretary if my street was on the list for fixing (re pavement); I did just that. The girl told me she would call me back to give me the information. That was over two months ago. My point here, is WHO comes with such STUPID and IDIOTIC ideas as widening up a street, spending a LOT of TAXPAYERS MONEY and the MANY Brownsville streets that need fixing? Do these people just sit and come up with ideas on how to spend OTHER PEPLE's MONEY?
ReplyDeleteFrom comissioners to department heads, we have people with NO VISION, NO "citizens needs first" vision. Not everybody in this town is illegal, not everybody in this town lives on government assistance and even these city employees, there will be a time when THEY will be in the need and I hope that whoever answers them will treat them the same way they treat us the common tax payer.
He and Doro are peddlin' this shit. Both should be in the unemployment line. Fat fucking imbeciles!
ReplyDeleteThis is business as usual for the dysfunctional city planners and administrators in Brownsville. We are spiraling down the toilet and they want dueling bike lanes along 6th St. Who hired these idiots and why close down a lane of a busy street for a bike lane. If we look at bike lanes in the city, they are used as turn lanes, parking lanes.....and nothing is done to enforce their use as bike lanes. The city's bike lanes are too wide and offer a tempting "other traffic lane" for autos. Again, our city has no adult leadership and no experienced management. Bicyclists generally fail to abide by traffic laws....as do pedestrians....and as long we fail to enforce the traffic laws that we have, a new bike lane will be a waste of space and prove to be a stupid action by the city. Why don't we put a few places to tie up horses downtown while we are doing stupid things.
ReplyDeleteOne lane will be interesting during Charro Days, when there is a parade, or when the sewer line to the zoo overflows (seemingly a regular problem down there). The planners are not thinking about the need for access into town. The city keeps trying to get folks to go downtown, but now want to limit access to downtown by auto. Have they considered a study to compare the numbers of cars, vs the number of bikes that use 6th St. Maybe they just want better access to the "Bike Barn".....that seems to be a city priority these days. These planners aren't planning.....they are just puckering up to the asses of "some" commissioners who seem to want downtown to be only accessible by bike.....thus leaving the city more of a ghost town.
ReplyDeletePut Ramiro's fat ass on a bike. The planners are seeking to placate Rose Gowen and 'Da Mayor. To close off a major artery into the city is ridiculous and indicates little thought has been given to this issue. During Sombrero Fest and Charro Days there would be traffic gridlock.....or maybe the planners are trying to dissuade us from going downtown.
ReplyDeleteHas it ever occurred to the planning people that downtown is like what Gertrud Stein said about Oakland: "There is no there there". The city center in completely blocked off by the Rio Grande River (look at a map). Not just a river but an international boundary with a city that is in a state of war. At one time, there was a reason for downtown and one reason only, Matamoros commerce. Now that Matamoros is literally dead, downtown has become a Bermuda Triangle of dereliction and depravity. For economic vitality to work requires a city to have a reason for existence, providing goods and services. There is absolutely no reason to go downtown. And, you can forget about urban revitalization via walk-ability housing because there are few jobs and no retiree in their right mind would live in the slum. Until Matamoros returns to a state of civility, you can forget about downtown. Needless to say, the outlook is less than sanguine.
ReplyDeleteWhere is Morgan to opine on Sidewalk-gate? Maybe her daddy has a comment.
ReplyDeleteRamiros ineptness is almost unparalleled except for the mayor. What idiots!
ReplyDeleteRamiro is not only a self agrandizing prick, but his core value is just what's in it for me
ReplyDelete