05/09/2023
Dear City of Irving, Texas - City Hall , I'm not a long time resident, and honestly I only see myself here for one more year mostly because I haven't found my next stop yet. However, as someone that has been here for almost two years, I have questions...
1. What's up with all the sidewalks that don't continue or connect? Why should people have to continuously cross roads just to stay on some sort of safe walkway?
2. What's up with all the road island dividers on almost every street?
3. Why does the "Urban Center" only have .25 miles of bike lanes? (Don't give me the campion trail as the only alternative, there aren't even any street bike lanes that lead to it in the urban center area)
4. Why are we putting more office buildings and apartment complexes but no actual work on walkability or pedestrian safety?
5. So far, for new construction, valuable sidewalk or even "dirt walk" is blocked for a considerable amount of time... Why?
I'm attaching pictures with specific comments:
I have quite a few examples of sidewalks that do not connect.. (a)
This "dirt walk" was terrible before as I've seen people in wheelchairs try to navigate it with much struggle. On the other side of road, is the Toyota Music Center complex where the sidewalk only exists inside the complex between parking and the actual businesses.. why wouldn't you have made the developers put a sidewalk along the street? (b)
Now that there's a new development, it's blocked so all people need to be on the street for a brief moment... For me as a runner, unsafe yes, but my main concern are disabled people... (b)
Also see the apartment development on Las Colinas Blvd - the sidewalk has been blocked at numerous points throughout the construction - there are people in scooters and wheelchairs that live near the lake. This isn't safe. (no picture)
Horrible island dividers all over the place - is there a use here? Seems like a waste of valuable space that could be used better for more bike lanes and wider sidewalks. (c)
We could probably also use some major speed enforcement along roads in the urban center and surrounding areas especially if you continue to require pedestrians to cross roadways to get to sidewalks or cyclists commuting or training. Reason being, these are residential, workplace, entertainment, and recreation destinations...
I tried to find a plan on the city website but I couldn't find one. I will keep searching.
In the end, you have a very diverse community here and so far the current infrastructure is a huge diservice to the people who live and work in the area.
Anyway, I know nothing will change during my remaining time here but I hope you realize that you have plenty of opportunity to make it a desired place to live and work safely for all residents. Thank you.
