Good news, Bad news

This article in today’s Vindicator contains both good news and bad news.

At the request of Mayor Jay Williams, Carmen S. Conglose Jr., the city’s deputy public works director, will meet with city planners, probably on Monday, to discuss the West Federal Street project.

By the end of next week, city officials will present their suggestions for the project to members of city council and interested parties, Williams said. The mayor expects a final plan to be done by the end of the month.

[...]The city originally had wanted to advertise for a contractor for the project next week, but that’s been delayed because of the objections, Conglose said.

We’ll start with the bad. Carmen Conglose still doesn’t see the light:

Conglose said he was surprised to hear complaints from people — as well as a petition opposing the project signed by about 700 — about the plan.

If there’s a way to keep or improve the medians while keeping the proposed new green space and the parking spots, Conglose said he wouldn’t object to that. But he says he can’t see any way for the medians to remain under those conditions.

“The people who complained hadn’t seen the project,” Conglose said about Monday’s meeting. “The whole thing is crazy. My take on the situation is I’ve been doing capital projects for 31 years. The only thing on Federal Street that’s encouraged business growth in recent history is [removing the pedestrian mall and opening up the Plaza to through-traffic].”

But will there be enough pressure from the Mayor and from city planners in general to help him see the light? How much influence does Bill D’Avignon, the Community Development Agency director have?

After hearing from residents and local business officials, D’Avignon said he’s inclined to keep the medians and additional downtown parking doesn’t appear to be something needed.

But again, from what was revealed at the meeting, the project is fundamentally about the utility lines under the street. So, the city planners still need to realize that the diagonal parking, whatever it might mean to the plaza, isn’t right for the West Federal Street. And there’s still the possibility that there could be an alternative approach to providing electricity to the lights and buildings along the street.

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