Public Comment

More Problems with the Proposed 2024 Durant/2025 Channing Project

By Stephen Stine
Saturday February 23, 2013 - 03:57:00 PM

The Stuart Pratt seniors and Channing/Durant neighbors have brought up one more point about the 2024 Durant/2025 Channing project. Due to the fact that the project uniquely spans two lots and is thus much larger than most projects, and is much larger than is suitable for this quiet residential neighborhood, there will be double the construction noise and construction impact on the neighbors, with simultaneous construction activity on two lots. Given that the neighborhood has been downzoned to three-stories maximum, construction of six or eight stories will be double or triple the amount of construction noise and activity than is appropriate for 2024 Durant--the construction impacts alone are totally inappropriate for the neighborhood in terms of noise and traffic and other safety threats and quality of life disruptions.  

The traffic and construction activity impacts of the construction at 2024 Durant will be endanger the seniors who walk around the neighborhood up to Shattuck--the flow of construction workers and supplies in and out of 2024 Durant during construction will interfere with the seniors' travels around the neighborhood; this might be reasonable if a quicker-to-build three story building were being built, but it is totally inappropriate with the amount of activity and time required to build a six or eight story building. Likewise, construction of a six or eight story building at 2024 Durant and a simultaneously construction of a four story building at 2025 Channing will not only unduly impact the safety of the seniors in the neighborhood, but will unduly endanger the bicyclists traveling on the Channing bicycle avenue.  

All of construction traffic and activity will thus endanger two vulnerable populations, the seniors who tend to walk more slowly and many of whom have vision impairments, and bicyclists, who take advantage of using the Channing bicycle avenue to commute in an environmentally friendly way, and who are vulnerable to getting hit by cars and construction-related vehicle activity and traffic. This is totally inappropriate for this neighborhood--such a large project spanning two lots does not belong in this quiet residential neighborhood, the construction impacts will pose too much disruption and danger to the residents and bicyclists--such large projects spanning multiple lots belong only in the Core and Corridor of Downtown. This is just one more aspect of how the 2024 Durant/2025 Channing project is much too large of a project and is totally inappropriate for the quiet R-4/R-3 protected residential neighborhood.