The overhaul of the Van Dorn Street/Eisenhower Interchange will move forward after the City Council struck down an appeal from nearby residents.
At the City Council meeting this week, the Council voted 5-2 in favor of a series of design changes on Eisenhower Avenue and nearby roads, denying an appeal from residents near the project of an earlier Traffic and Parking Board Decision.
The plan involves relocating left-turn lanes on Metro Road and Van Dorn Street, installing a new sidewalk on the south side of Eisenhower Avenue and a two-way bike/scooter lane on the north side.
Discussion of the project on the dais reflected an ongoing push for transportation changes to emphasize safety and pedestrian/cyclist/transit access over car traffic throughput.
City Council member Kirk McPike said, before the meeting, he biked around the interchange and described the experience as “terrifying.”
“As we develop this corridor, we want people to move to this corridor knowing they’re moving to an area where biking and pedestrian access are taken seriously,” said McPike, “where they can buy or rent a home there even if they don’t have enough cars for their family.
McPike said the City’s vision is Eisenhower as a multi-modal corridor that connects from the Van Dorn Metro station all the way into Old Town.
“It’s going to be an incredible East-West connectivity,” McPike said.
“Throughput was the goal for a long time,” said City Council member Sarah Bagley. “When this stretch was built, it was built to move cars as fast and effectively as possible.”
City Council member John Chapman and Vice Mayor Amy Jackson both voted against the proposal/in favor of the appeal.
Jackson said she’d heard from The Greenhill Companies, developers behind a nearby residential project, that they were opposed to the changes.
“Although this is well-intended, I have a real concern when I hear that Greenhill itself does not like this plan,” Jackson said. “Then my concern is: will they not build? Will they not develop because this plan is in place? As much as it’s well intended, my concern is ‘what is the other side?’ To help a few, I feel like we let down a community in doing it.”
Jackson’s comment that Greenhill was opposed to the project sparked contention from others on the City Council.
When pressed by colleagues to point to Greenhill’s communication regarding the project, Jackson said she’s done her own outreach regarding the project.
“We can’t make things up on the dais,” City Council member Canek Aguirre said.
“We have received no communication from Greenhill about this project,” Mayor Justin Wilson said. “I’ve never heard a developer tell me a pedestrian-designed project that’s going to improve pedestrian safety, next to a large metro station, is a reason they won’t be able to finance and construct a development. That’s a ludicrous suggestion.”
“I don’t report to you,” Jackson answered.
ALXnow reached out to both Jackson and Greenhill about the company’s opposition to the project. Jackson did not respond, but Greenhill denied opposing the project.
Another interesting note to come out of the discussion was an update on the proposed bridge connecting Eisenhower Avenue to S. Pickett Street, running over the rail tracks parallel to Eisenhower Avenue.
“Right now, there is no funding for the multimodal bridge,” said Hillary Orr, deputy director of Transportation and Environmental Services. “It is still on the books in our long range plans… the traffic benefits from this project do potential push out the need for a multimodal bridge project.
