(image from River Landing web site, showing planned changes for the 19th St underpass)
When I walked to the market this morning, I found that the freeway underpass along 19th St is now closed to foot traffic as well as vehicles. If you’re coming from the east, you’ll have to walk around to 20th, around or through the Toys R Us parking lot, and back up Avenue A.
I’m going to phone the city on Monday and find out whether pedestrians will be able to get through there at all while they’re working on the new freeway entrance (they won’t be finished until this autumn). I got a PSA about the closure last month, but it only mentioned vehicle access, not pedestrian access, and I assumed that pedestrians were still going to be able to get through without making a huge detour.
The planned changes to 19th Street, which include raising the level of the street to reduce the ‘dip’, as well as widening the sidewalks, will definitely make it a more attractive thoroughfare.
Currently 19th Street runs under the old rail bridge located between Idylwyld and the 1st Avenue on-ramp. This is an unpleasant area in which to walk or travel by bike, it feels unsafe at night. The sidewalks feel uncomfortably close to traffic under the bridge. Sight lines are poor for drivers and, perceptually, the area acts as a barrier between east and west. (River Landing web site)
The changes will be a great improvement to the underpass and will make it a lot more pleasant to walk through. It’s rather aggravating, however, when the city doesn’t ever bother to put up any signs letting people know ahead of time that they won’t be able to get through there on foot. If you’re using a walker, a wheelchair, or pushing a stroller with kids, it’s a pretty big deal to suddenly discover you have to go 3 long blocks around and cross at a smelly, noisy, busy, and generally pedestrian-unfriendly intersection (Idylwyld & 20th).
I guess we should at least be grateful that unlike that Saturday last summer, you can’t get all the way through the underpass before suddenly discovering that 19th St is closed at Ave A and you have to backtrack all the way back under the bridge, go over to 20th and trek as far as Ave C or D before being able to double back. That unexpected little detour added about 10 blocks to the journey, causing serious mass annoyance. Again, the closures were obviously necessary, but why not let people know ahead of time?
A huge number of people walk to the market, and the last thing the city should be doing is making it harder for them to get there on foot. All that does is encourage them to just get in their cars and drive there instead, or not go in the first place. I’m not disputing that the route might need to be completely closed while construction is underway, but if they could just put up a couple of measly signs a week or two before letting pedestrians know of the changes in access, it would save a lot of unnecessary aggravation for market customers. Especially when the route in question is soon to be called ‘Market Walk’!
