Videos & News
The City of Erie Engineer, and the five Traffic Engineers hired in 2012 to figure out what to do with the Viaduct are fantastic at figuring out how prioritize the needs of cars, trucks and tractor-trailers. While this sounds good, it actually sucks because the priority should have been the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists, not drivers. Its the 21st century: high time to make Erie WALKABLE!
Yuri Artibise, 2010
Last week, I introduced the notion of urban fabric. Urban fabric is not just the built form, however. It also reflects the delicate interweaving of social, economic and physical connections.
New developments need to be looked at not as single entities, but as part of a block, a neighborhood, a city, a region. Design guidelines and zoning that respect historic context and pedestrian scale are essential to creating great buildings and enduring places. Moreover, since every project is part of the overall urban fabric, how projects connect to each other and to the city is a central tenet of urban design. Streets, public transit, bike-ways and connected green space tie the city together. They provide the framework for a vibrant city.
Compare the connectivity of the sprawl on the north side of the arterial to the more urban grid network on the south side.
Creating more direct connections shortens travel time, which effectively brings people closer to their destinations. With more available connections, community residents can get to schools, shopping centers, and other spots that may have simply been off their radar before—not because these places were too far away—but because they were too far out of the way. Intuitively this makes sense; the smaller the blocks, the greater number of intersections, the more storefronts, the more choice of routes, the more chances for serendipity. All this leads to more urban vitality.
What makes a city walkable?
Short blocks. - Street trees. - Places worth visiting.
Obviously, these aren't characteristics of a 9 foot path along side a four lane arterial highway!
This brief video explains that "connectivity across multiple realms is essential." If we plan for vehicles, we get traffic. If we plan for pedestrians, we make the city walkable and foster revitalization.
Kevin Flowers reported in the Erie Times-News:
The group hosted a news conference outside Erie City Hall on Wednesday morning.
A spokesperson for a group advocating to save Erie’s McBride Viaduct said a federal lawsuit was the best option to halt the bridge’s planned demolition and get a public hearing on the issue.
“We filed the complaint now because we believe we have no other recourse,” said Michael Keys, a spokesman for Erie CPR Connect + Respect, which wants to see the viaduct, located at East 12th Street and East Avenue, restored as a pedestrian walkway or public park.
The group hosted a news conference outside of Erie City Hall Wednesday morning, two days after filing a civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court.
“It was a necessary step to ensure that the city of Erie starts to listen to its residents,” Keys said.
Karen Abrams, the Pittsburgh Heinz Endowments Program Director of Equitable Development, and a 2017 Harvard Loeb Fellow, will give a presentation "Addressing Inequity and Inequality: Steps to Building a Just Erie" at the Jefferson Educational Society at 3207 State Street, Erie, PA. This JES event is free and open to the public, but requires pre-registration on line or by calling (814) 459-8000.
In a May 2 story in the Erie Times-News, Kevin Flowers reports on ErieCPR's reluctant decision to file a complaint to delay the demolition and obtain a transparent, on-the-record public hearing for the McBride Viaduct.
ErieCPR Spokesperson Michael Keys and President Adam Trott announced they will hold a brief press event at 8:30am on Wednesday, May 2 in front of City Hall at 626 State Street to discuss the April 30 filing of a legal complaint for a demolition delay and Public Hearing about the McBride Viaduct.
After four and a half years of effort, ErieCPR exhausted non-legal remedies to prevent the irreparable harm of removing the McBride Viaduct – a key pedestrian and bike artery connecting impoverished minority neighborhoods on Erie’s Eastside. The decision to tear down the bridge was made unofficially more than a decade ago, and officially in 2013, prior to the regional and city comprehensive plans: Destination Erie, Emerge 2040 and Erie Refocused. In 2017, the lead consultant of Erie Refocused, recommended a “pause” in the demolition and the kind of discussion, “that should have occurred years ago.” Since 2015, six urban planning professionals have visited Erie and each encouraged the retention of the Viaduct as a non-vehicular bridge:
Philip Langdon, Author of Within Walking Distance – April 2018
Charles McKinney, New York City parks planner and “Practical Visionary” - Jan. 2018
Terry Schwarz, Architect and Director, Cleveland Urban Design – April 2017
Toni Griffin, Architect, Harvard Professor, Editor of Just City – April 2016
Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, Author, Urban Alchemy – August 2015
John Norquist, former Mayor of Milwaukee – April 2015
In response to the USA Today and Wall Street Journal stories identifying Erie as the “worst place” in the nation for Black Americans, a long-time Erie social worker commented, “if we tear down the Viaduct, we will prove they are right.” ErieCPR Spokesperson Michael Keys, commented that the people most dependent on the Viaduct are “living in poverty” and cannot “fight City Hall” on their own. Cynthia Muhammad (publisher of the Erie Metropolitan Black Yellow Pages) says that demolition will create a “containment area . . . where children will be injured.” Rev. Charles Mock of Erie’s African-American Concerned Clergy and Erie’s NAACP President, Gary Horton believe saving the Viaduct is crucial to maintaining safety, creating jobs and fostering hope on Erie’s Eastside. A growing list of residents, leaders and organizations are encouraging the new City Administration to delay demolition and call for a transparent, on-the-record Public Hearing.
Donations to help save the Viaduct are welcomed. Checks should be written to “Winds of Change” with “ErieCPR” written into the subject line. Mail checks to: ErieCPR c/o AJT Architect, 1001 State Street, Suite 205, Erie, PA 16501 # # #
The ErieCPR Vice-President, DJ Beary “the Mailman” Clark, will MC the BRIDGE THE GAP Viaduct Fundraiser on Thursday, April 19 from 6pm to 10pm at Latino’s, 1315 Parade St., to support efforts to gain the Public Hearing that ErieCPR President Adam Trott notes has “never been held.” Donations are $10, $15 per couple. Limited menu is available for purchase. Cash bar. Musical guests include St. Stephen, Julie VonVolkenburg and the band, Erie’s Best Kept Secret. Rappers and poets including Bigg Wash will take the mike. All funds collected are deposited with the non-profit Erie Winds of Change (the 501c3 that is serving as fiscal agent for ErieCPR) and will be used to gain a demolition delay, Public Hearing and to save the McBride Viaduct.
Early this year, Michael Kimmelman (honored as a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist), visited Erie and interviewed folks on both sides of the Viaduct issue. He spoke at length with the Mayor and with one of his key Transition Team Advisors. In the resulting front page New York Times story, Mayor Schember’s Advisor was quoted urging demolition of the Viaduct and commenting that the Eastside was filled with “failing neighborhoods” with no one he would want to live next to. This Advisor’s thinking apparently guided the Mayor’s reversal of his position (as a candidate) not to object to a Public Hearing.
The Schember Administration has mistakenly claimed that Public Hearings have been held (lots of meetings, but no Public Meetings with on-the-record statements); that the Viaduct isn’t needed (the folks who use the Viaduct need it); that the Rt. 290 Bayfront Connector highway path is a safe and healthy route for pedestrians (the fumes, particulates and blind spot are unhealthy and dangerous); and that there isn’t money available to repair, insure and maintain the Viaduct (a combination of grants, City demolition funds, and PennDOT Demo-Offset funds are available.) In fact, in a January 26, 2018 email to the Mayor and ErieCPR, PennDOT noted that, "the amount of Demo-Offset funds that could be made available to the City of Erie if they choose to rehabilitate the bridge, retain ownership of it, and agree to maintain it is ... $1,259,345." Thus, PennDOT is willing to cover 93% of the $1.35M needed to retain the Viaduct for non-vehicular use.
Adam Trott has noted that that the Viaduct’s damaged concrete and rebar are repairable defects, and are more like an “unsightly surface rash” that can be restored to full service within the projected budget. His $1.35M proposal to stop the Viaduct’s deterioration includes: repairing the long-neglected and clogged storm drainage system; removing loose concrete and adding a protective seal to the scarred concrete; and filling pot-holes on the deck and joints between the decks. Because of this, ErieCPR continues to call for a demolition delay and an immediate Public Hearing. ###
Erie DJ "The Mailman" will emcee this BRIDGE THE GAP Viaduct Fundraiser featuring live music, poetry, rap and more. $10 donation gets you in the door of Latinos where you may learn the facts, join in the fun and purchase drinks and food from a limited menu from 6pm to 10pm Thursday night, April 19.
