Iconic Connection: sundial “lid” at State & Bayfront?
ProposalS for a bayfront boulevard:
DETAIL of bayfront boulevard view from west to east showing State Street SUNDIAL LID over Bayfront (with tapered weather forecasting beacon) / Illustration by Maxwell J. Hentosh / CIVITAS.design copyright 2020
During the four-hour, September 24, 2020 Erie Bayfront Public Hearing convened by Erie City Council, Architect Adam J. Trott, President of Connect Urban Erie, unveiled a true “iconic connection” that honors the spirit of ErieRefocused by prioritizing people over traffic, literally.
bayfront boulevard view from west to east to State Street / Illustration by Maxwell J. Hentosh / CIVITAS.design copyright 2020
bayfront boulevard view from east to west with holland street and bluffpark. / Illustration by Maxwell J. Hentosh / CIVITAS.design copyright 2020
bayfront boulevard view of bluffpark at Holland Street / Illustration by Maxwell J. Hentosh / CIVITAS.design copyright 2020
Sept. 24 Bayfront PUBLIC HEARING!
REGISTER and ASK City Council to insist on an ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT for PennDOT’s Bayfront Project 5:30PM Thursday / September 24, 2020 / To attend and speak for no more than five minutes YOU MUST:
I. Register here: https://cityof.erie.pa.us/2020/09/14/bayfront-parkway-public-hearing/
II. Email City Clerk Laurie Watson to let her know if you will be speaking in opposition, or in favor of PennDOT’s plan: Lwatson@erie.pa.us.
III. Get a confirmation of your registration, because you are not registered unless you get a confirmation!
IV. Plan out your remarks! Five minutes goes quickly - its only 500 - 600 words. SAMPLE OUTLINE
1. Say your NAME clearly and follow it with your street ADDRESS.
2. Next, THANK City Council for holding the Public Hearing.
3. Then, state your VIEWPOINT “I am hear tonight to speak against PennDOT’s Bayfront plan and to ask for the full ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.
4. Give a particular REASON for your viewpoint. “I’m against PennDOT’s plan because I’m concerned about . . .” (OPTIONS INCLUDE: air pollution / water pollution / noise pollution / social (in) justice / the needs of the poor / the danger from the traffic / the increased harm to the Eastside / walkablity concerns / public health / noise / economic development / lack of access / lack of transparency / focus on vehicular traffic / expanding the existing barrier / the fact that other cities are removing highways.)
5. EXPLAIN your reason by offering specific personal OR community OR a technical reason. For instance, “I’m opposed to PennDOT’s plan because it will double traffic and double air pollution. Asthma runs in my family, and, I want to be able to enjoy the outdoors without breathing fumes from 29,000 cars, trucks and tractor trailers.”
6. Repeat your VIEWPOINT. “I appreciate this chance to explain know I oppose PennDOT’s Bayfront plan and request a full ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.
7. Close with THANKS. “City Council, please block PennDOT’s Bayfront highway plan THANK YOU!.
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that on Thursday, September 24, at 5:30 PM, Erie City Council will conduct a public hearing via Zoom to hear public comment on the PA Department of Transportation’s “preferred alternative” plan to redesign the Bayfront Parkway. PennDOT’s plan may be viewed at www.bayfrontparkwayproject.com. To participate in the public hearing, you must click on the Zoom link, which will be provided on the city of Erie website, https://cityof.erie.pa.us/. Speakers will be limited to five minutes. Additional remarks and comments by those unable to participate in the public hearing may be submitted to Erie City Council by emailing City Clerk Laurie A. Watson at Lwatson@erie.pa.us. Comments should be emailed by Sept. 30.
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PUBLIC HEARING click on the ZOOM LINK at the CITY OF ERIE website - https://cityof.erie.pa.us/ - and/or send an email by September 30, 2020 to Lwatson@erie.pa.us
Until March 2020, PennDOT’s Bayfront roadway expansion plan was scheduled for a NEPA Environmental Assessment and a Public Hearing.
However, after claiming that their $100M plan to double waterfront traffic would have little / no environmental impact AND after claiming their controversial plan was not controversial, the Federal Highway Association granted PennDOT a “Categorical Exclusion” eliminating the more complex environmental review and allowing PennDOT to avoid a Public Hearing.
City Council, in a 6 to 1 vote, decided to hold their own Public Hearing:
City Council will conduct a virtual Public Hearing regarding the PennDOT Bayfront Parkway Plan on Thursday, September 24th at 5:30 p.m. Specific information regarding the hearing will be available on the City of Erie website at cityof.erie.pa.us
Joel Natalie: "We have one chance to get the Bayfront right!"
ListEN to Joel Natalie’s August 25, 24- minute TALK ERIE interview with NYC’s April DeSimone of designing the we about acknowledging that 20th century infrastructure decisions in many places have not prioritized pedestrians - and, how developing “shared values” can help cities like Erie avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
“PLEASE LISTEN” accepted to AIA Film Challenge!
The CIVITAS / Connect Urban Erie submission is on the top right - PLEASE LISTEN.
The CIVITAS/ConnectUrbanErie's film short "PLEASE LISTEN" documents #Erie's unjust #infrastructure. This 90-second video collage has been accepted into the @AIANational 2020 film challenge!
ERIE BAYFRONT TOWN HALL
1watch the ENTIRE Erie Bayfront Town Hall
Organized by LISA AUSTIN / CIVITAS August 25, 2020
2. NEPA Categorical Exclusions vs. Environmental Assessments: what’s the difference?
Jill Witkowski Heaps / EarthJustice
3. NEPA needs Political Support to Succeed
Raul Garcia / EarthJustice
4. How Expanded Roadways and 4. Increased Traffic impact Water Quality
Sarah Bennett / PennFuture
5. By Design: How Policies, Practices, and Investments Create Systemic Inequity
April DeSimone / designing the WE
6. Fixing the Planning Process: Building on Buki’s Erie Refocused COMPREHENSIVE Plan
Adam Trott / AJT Architect / Erie Bayfront Coalition / Connect Urban Erie / CIVITAS
7. The Bayfront: Promises & Reality
Judith Lynch / Former Erie County Executive/ Historian, JES
8. Does PennDOT’s Bayfront plan provide good pedestrian access?
Freda Tepfer / Orientation and Mobility Specialist (retired)
9. Have we been here before?
Roland Slade / Cultural Critic & Found Video Collage Artist / CIVITAS
10. The impact of eminent domain on displaced residents.
Samone / Artist / Community Advocate
11. PennDOT is trying to solve the wrong problem.
Michael Fuhrman / Former Project Manager of Destination Erie Regional Plan
12. Reflections on environmental justice.
Gary Horton / Erie NAACP
13. Wonderful Waterfronts
Maxwell J. Hentosh / Architecture + Urban Designer
14. The Bayfront: a historical and personal perspective.
Andre’ Horton / President, Erie County Council
15.Let’s take action!
Andre Rosado / Erie Equal
16. Creating our future.
Rev. Dr. Charles Mock / Community Missionary Baptist Church/ African-American Concerned Clergy
17
17. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING THE ERIE BAYFRONT TOWN HALL
Lisa Austin / Erie Bayfront Coalition / Connect Urban Erie / CIVITAS
Adam Trott / AJT Architect / Erie Bayfront Coalition / Connect Urban Erie / CIVITAS
SHORT ESSAYS
January 2019, Erie Times News / PENN DOT IS TRYING TO SOLVE THE WRONG PROBLEM
August 2019, Erie Times News / WHAT KIND OF CITY DO WE WANT?
August 2020, Erie Reader / SKIP THE HIGHWAY, BUILD A BAYFRONT
Transportation Planners, ignoring falling traffic, propose expanded roads & bridges across USA
Illustration by Xavier LaLanne-Tauzia - MOTHERBOARD TECH BY VICE
Aaron Gordon’s August 24, 2020 MOTHERBOARD essay “The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation” explains that since 1950, American transportation planners have been using the same model to decide what to build.” The problem is, the 70 year old model is “often wrong.”
23 Attorney Generals file suit against attempts to weaken NEPA
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra / Twitter @AGBecerra
Sadly, here in Erie the controversial plan to demolish the the McBride Viaduct was never subjected to a Public Hearing. In 2020, PennDOT’s $100M plan to encourage through-traffic along Erie’s waterfront was inappropriately downgraded to “Categorical Exclusion” status that exempted the requirement for a Public Hearing. To gain that status, PennDOT told the Federal Highway Association that their controversial project wasn’t controversial, and, doubling traffic (by expanding the waterfront roadway with roundabouts and an underpass) will have no impact on the water, air, noise, light, cultural resources or social justice communities. PennDOT’s falsehoods should trigger the much needed ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT and required Public Hearing. Impressively, Erie City Council members voted 6 to 1 to host a Public Hearing before they will consider allowing PennDOT to proceed.
The Trump administration’s “final rule also limits public participation in the review process, robbing vulnerable communities of the opportunity to make their voices heard on actions that are likely to have adverse environmental and health impacts. In the lawsuit, the coalition argues that the final rule abandons informed decision making, public participation, and environmental and public health protections in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and NEPA. “
Erie Bayfront Town Hall Webinar Link
At 6:55pm on Tuesday, August 25, click the link to WATCH the webinar:
https://edinboro.zoom.us/j/94847662430
Webinar ID: 948 4766 2430
PLEASE LISTEN
PLEASE LISTEN - 90 seconds
Designer warns PennDOT's plan, like Cleveland, fails to prioritize people!
Clevelands’s waterfront highway - is this the best solution for Erie?
Maxwell J. Hentosh, a young architectural and urban designer from Cleveland, authored a compelling op-ed in the Sunday, August 21, 2020 Erie Times-News, “PennDOT’s bayfront plan fails to prioritize people.”
Hentosh, who grew up in Cleveland, warns that PennDOT’s “Erie Bayfront Central Corridor Project” is similar to Cleveland’s massive waterfront roadway (above.)
Hentosh, a member of the team of graduate students who visited Erie last October and did not challenge PennDOT’s vision, is now collaborating with CIVITAS and CONNECT URBAN ERIE to propose a “human centered” design for Erie’s waterfront - a Bayfront Boulevard.
Maxwell J. Hentosh / Copyright CIVITAS.design 2020
PennDOT's Brian A. McNulty Doesn’t Understand “Erie Refocused”
PennDOT’s vision for Bayfront and Holland Street.
Charles Buki’s 2015 Erie Refocused Comprehensive Plan advised us to prioritize the needs and preferences of people walking and biking over the desires of drivers. In a bizarre statement in his Sunday op-ed, Brian A. McNulty claims that PennDOT’s $100 million dollar roadway expansion plan is “consistent with the Erie Refocused comprehensive plan.” He correctly states that “the heart of the project seeks to better connect travelers . . . to the Bayfront.” The reality is that PennDOT’s plan is a roadway for suburban commuters, tourists and tractor-trailers to speedily get to work or to “cut through” the city along the waterfront as shown in their Bayfront Project animation.
Despite PennDOT’s own statements that traffic will rise from 16,000 a day to 2,900 a day, McNulty states, that PennDOT’s project “is not increasing traffic.”
Despite McNulty’s long list of public meetings, workshops, etc. PennDOT filed paperwork in March 2020 to AVOID an on-the-record Public Hearing and Environmental Assessment.
Despite PennDOT’s recent “addition” of three pedestrian overpasses to their drawings, these bridges are unfunded, and, may never be built. If they are built, they may not be public 24/7. In addition, the proposed bridges are unattractive and indirect. It needs to be declared that three proposed pedestrian bridges do nothing to help the already difficult crossings at Cranberry, East 6th, East 10th, East 12th. Since PennDOT anticipates an additional 10,000 vehicles a day will be added to the Eastside Connector arterial highway, the already redlined neighborhoods harmed by the demolition of the Viaduct will be dealt blows of more noise, more pollution, more danger and less connectivity.
PennDOT’s vision for Bayfront and State Street.
Earth Justice to headline Erie Bayfront Town Hall August 25
Aug. 21, 2020, Erie, PA Representatives from Earth Justice - the international advocacy group that “goes to court for the future of our planet” - will headline a 90-minute, all-virtual Erie Bayfront Town Hall at 7:00pm on Tuesday, August 25. The zoom link will be posted on Connect Urban Erie’s Facebook page and website <ConnectUrbanErie.com>.
At the Town Hall, Raul Garcia and Jill Heap, both of Earth Justice, will clarify crucial differences between NEPA’s Categorical Exclusions and Environmental Assessments. PennFuture’s Sarah Bennett will explain how expanding roadways and increasing traffic impacts water quality.
NYC designer, educator and cofounder of designing the WE, April DeSimone, will outline the way in which policies, practices, and investments create systemic inequity. Erie County Council President Andre’ Horton will offer a historical and personal perspective of the Bayfront.
Samone, an artist and community activist, will explain some of the impact of eminent domain on displaced residents. Erie NAACP President Gary Horton will share reflections on environmental justice. The video collage artist, Roland Slade, will share a montage of Eastside residents vainly pleading to keep their long-neglected bridge.
Historian and former Erie County Executive Judith Lynch will outline how the Bayfront has been planned during the last half century. Freda Tepfer, a retired orientation and mobility specialist, will consider whether PennDOT’s plan provides good pedestrian access. Michael Fuhrman, the former Project Manager of Destination Erie Regional Plan, will outline PennDOT’s misguided effort to solve “the wrong (Bayfront) problem”.
Architect Adam Trott, President of Connect Urban Erie, will outline how we can build on the ErieRefocused plan by fixing our planning process. Cleveland architect and urban designer, Maxwell J. Henton, will share examples of “wonderful waterfronts” and offer a vision for Erie.
Andre Rosado, co-founder of ErieEqual, will make a call to action. Rev. Dr. Charles Mock, pastor at Community Missionary Baptist Church, and member of the African-American Concerned Clergy, will conclude the Town Hall by challenging, and inspiring, all listeners.
# # # # #
Why isn't the Bayfront Highway controversy getting covered in Erie's media?
PennDOT’s car-centric vision for the Bayfront.
The growing resistance to PennDOT's Bayfront Plan isn’t getting much coverage in Erie's newspaper, internet news, television and radio. Here’s the news:
Last night, August 19, Erie City Council boldly voted to support the will of the people by delaying Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)'s $100million plan to double waterfront traffic and by holding the much-needed Public Hearing that was circumvented in March (when PennDOT successfully, but inappropriately, was granted a NEPA Categorial Exclusion - CE).
Granted by the FHWA, the CE allowed PennDOT to self-report on environmental issues and avoid an on-the-record scrutiny of their controversial proposal for Erie's Bayfront.
Expanding the Bayfront to encourage more drivers to "cut through" the city is environmentally risky, economically illogically and socially unjust. Shockingly, PennDOT's vision for double-lane roundabouts, an underpass and highway-style exits, ramps and signage completely ignores the principles of the city's 2015 comprehensive plan, Charles Buki's "Erie Refocused".
PennDOT's Bayfront Highway will sever an already problematic connection from city neighborhoods to the waterfront. In addition to attracting more drivers to the waterfront, PennDOT reports that their plan will add 10,000 more vehicles a day to the Eastside's RT. 290 Bayfront "Connector." This is a big issue! Because of the demolition of the Viaduct, Eastside residents must walk and bike along Rt 290 to get to work and shopping, etc. Some middle school students must walk along Rt. 290 to get to school . . . why are we considering making their unsafe route to school more polluted, noisy and even more dangerous?
Councilwoman Liz Allen, who regularly uses her decades of experience as a reporter, researcher and writer, reminded her colleagues that "Erie Refocused" was officially adopted by Council. She read from that document's directive of ALWAYS prioritizing the preferences and needs of pedestrians over traffic.
Allen, Brennan, Keys and Schaaf each acknowledged that PennDOT's plan is about traffic, not pedestrians. The indirect, overhead jetway pedestrian bridges proposed by PennDOT are clumsy band-aides to a traffic problem their project will exacerbate - and - as Brennan noted, the bridges aren't funded. Even worse, the bridges may be privately funded meaning they not end up being truly, 24/7 public connections.
City Council is scheduling a Public Hearing in September. Connect Urban Erie is holding a ERIE BAYFRONT TOWN HALL next week - Tuesday, August 25 at 7pm. https://www.facebook.com/events/691818784705287/
MJH Design’s rendering of the CIVITAS proposal for a multi-modal, “complete street” Bayfront Boulevard.
Learn more by reading the 800 word piece “Skip the Highway, Build a Boulevard” by Lisa Austin and Adam Trott in the August 2020 ErieReader.
City Council Votes for Public Hearing on PennDOT's Controversial Bayfront Plan
Tonight six of seven members of Erie City Council voted the will of the people by supporting an on-the-record Public Hearing about PennDOT’s $100 million dollar plan to help double waterfront traffic. Be sure to thank Ms. Allen, Mr. Brennan, Mr. Brzezinski, Mr. Keys, Mr. Winarski and Ms. Schaaf. Only Mr. Witherspoon voted against a Public Hearing.
PennDOT's Pie Chart Proves Inaccurate
Courtesy of PennDOT!
At the August 13, 2020 Erie City Council ZOOM Study Session, PennDOT explained how they arrived at a proposal that ignores Buki’s ErieRefocused plan.
The audience (unable to speak but busily typing in the chat) appeared to be 100% from the blue slice in the above pie chart.
Four City Council members questioned PennDOT with severity - especially Councilwoman Liz Allen. Her on-point observations and willingness to repeat an unanswered question were a joy to behold!
Liz 4 Mayor? Watch it all here!
WATCH PARTY PennDOT Bayfront Highway Study Session
Log on at 5pmEST, Thursday, August 13 to join the Watch Party for Erie City Council’s STUDY SESSION regarding PennDOT’s Bayfront Highway plan.
erie reader 800 word summary - Skip the Highway, Build a Boulevard
Kelly pushes BUILD grant for PennDOT's (DIS)Connecting Erie Waterfront project
In 2015, Charles Buki, the lead author of the ErieRefocused Comprehensive Plan told us that Erie has the potential to be a thriving city, but . . . unless the needs and preferences of residents, pedestrians and bicyclists are prioritized, “the City of Erie’s shoreline” will remain one of the "most “squandered” assets in America.
Part of PennDOT’s Bayfront Highway project to support commuters and visitors who want to “cut through” Erie while enjoying a water view
PennDOT’s Bayfront Project ignores ErieRefocused! As Micheal Fuhrman wrote in January 2019, PennDOT is trying to solve the wrong problem. PennDOT’s Bayfront Project is designed to connect I-79, I-90, Rt. 290 and suburban traffic in a giant loop around and through the City of Erie instead of following Buki’s advice: create an iconic connection from the city to the water that prioritizes pedestrians and bicyclists.
Via the BUILD grant, Rep. Mike Kelly, is helping to fund a highway that will sever the city from the water. By constructing massive, double-lane roundabouts, an underpass and “highway style” exits, ramps and signs, PennDOT hopes to achieve their #1 Level of Service - a roadway where no vehicle ever stops.
While PennDOT’s vision makes sense for an interstate, it is lunacy for a city street. A Boulevard with narrower lanes, trees and frequent intersections promote economic development, public health and attract new residents who are essential to the city’s future.
Illustration by MJH Design / Commission & Vision by CIVITAS.
PennDOT’s Bayfront Project will cause more Eastside harm. PennDOT’s Bayfront Project is expected to add 10,000 vehicles a day to the Rt. 290 Eastside Bayfront “Connector.” Now that the Viaduct is down, the “Connector” arterial highway route is the only way for the impoverished, minority residents (including school children) pf 16503 to get over the railroad tracks.
The demolition of the Viaduct, and PennDOT’s Bayfront Highway are contemporary examples of Redlining and Structural Racism.
Skip the Highway, Build a Boulevard!
This artist rendering by Maxwell J. Hentosh illustrates CIVITAS and Connect Urban Erie's vision of a Bayfront Boulevard complete street and Bluffside Park near the Holland intersection. This concept represents a pedestrian-friendly alternative to PENNDOT's planned Bayfront Parkway project, which would reinforce the Bayfront's current use as a high-speed vehicular traffic corridor, severing the waterfront from downtown.
Read the latest “Considering the City” essay by CIVITAS and Connect Urban Erie members Lisa Austin and Adam Trott published in the Erie Reader on Wednesday, July 29, 2020: Skip the Highway, Build a Boulevard!
Erie City Council needs to HEAR FROM YOU
Erie City Council boldly tabled, then removed from their Agenda a Resolution that would have given permission for PennDOT to proceed with their plans to expand the Bayfront roadway. Here is the issue at hand - this PennDOT’s massive project was set to be reviewed via NEPA Environmental Assessment and Public Hearing. However, in March, PennDOT applied for, and was granted a NEPA CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION - CE, a lesser environmental study that doesn’t include a Public Hearing. CE’s are normally granted for bridge repairs or road repaving. CE’s must have little or no environmental impact and must not be controversial. How is it possible to claim that doubling waterfront traffic (in part by encouraging drivers to cut-through Erie by removing intersections with double-lane roundabouts, an underpass and highway style exit ramps, exits and signage) will not impact the environment? How can PennDOT claim their project isn’t controversial?
PLEASE email Erie City Council and PennDOT to insist on a full ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT and Public Hearing before allowing PennDOT to proceed:
City Council President James Winarski jwinarski@erie.pa.us
City Council-member Liz Allen lallen@erie.pa.us
City Council-member Dave Brennan dbrennan@erie.pa.us
City Council-member Ed Brzezinski ebrzesinski@erie.pa.us
City Council-member Michael Keys mkeys@erie.pa.us
City Council-member Kathy Schaaf kschaaf@erie.pa.us
City Council-member Mel Witherspoon mwitherspoon@erie.pa.us