Hunt's "At a Loss to Understand" Why City's Making It So Difficult to Roll Out Bike Plan

• What's the word...beauracracy?..BS?..just plain lack of interest in the will of the people?...How about some good ole non-violent, direct action to dramatize the point.  Anybody?  Is it worth putting it on the line - in person??

• That's the whole point, though. The consultants said it wouldn't cost extra. Just re-do the stripes with bike lanes when you're redoing the stripes anyway. The staff now, after all this time, now says it will not only cost a shit-ton but also that there's a law on the books that effectively requires the city to go through the rezoning process to paint the stripes differently. I mean, standing up to the consultants and saying, "Are you sure it will only cost this much? Are there any obscure laws that you're not thinking of?" And so on wouldn't necessarily be my first line of thinking and likely would not have resulted in a different answer from the consultant.

• don't try to tell BFOC that. when you disagree with them, they block the comment from appearing on their website!

• Angela simple answer,City Manager does not want to do it. I'm not sure why City Council continue to think they run City. Councilmembers only run dirty work,like changing selection process of selecting DFW Board members now that has BACKFIRED on people who wanted it,just to get rid of some of us,their candidates DID NOT MAKE CUT. HA ,HA.Told you so. When Ms. Mary decide she wants to have bike lane on regular streets there will be some.

• I don't want my earlier comment to be taken that our city staff gets it wrong. They get it. My preception is that we get people into these meetings citing their opinions as fact, when they're dead wrong. Bike lanes are needed. Let's pay for them ourselves, paint them ourselves, put them in with approval of the council. Get off the city management. Do something yourselves. Government can't fix it. They try but the city staff is pulled from meeting to meeting, with eberyone bitching. I'm just tired of Dallas Citizens expecting someone else , the city, a grant, a developer, to do what they can do if they will just do it. We are out of money folks!

• aaaaah, you may be correct.  But, what if they put in in fake 'suspension bridge' bike lanes with exposed plumbing arches and dreamcatcher cables?  Now THAT'S world class, buddy.

• Well, the bikes facts change depending on when you ask the question. I have been active in this area and find thast the so called experts pull facts out of the air. We need our transportation planners to give us real evaluations. Councilwomen Hunt, gets it and she's right the numbers are moving targets. John Barr

• You don't attend many council meetings or committee briefings. do you? Jill Jordan does that on a daily basis. 

• Ok everyone calm down 'cause it's going to be all OK. Just remember all the great BFOC talking points? http://bikefriendlyoc.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/talking-points-by-those-opposed-to-bicycle-infrastructure/ Now look at number 11: " Bicycle lanes in most cities are installed when the City happens to be resurfacing a road anyway. This allows the money to come from the regular budget for repairing a road and requires very minimal costs" - Oops I guess (Rickey Ricardo voice: "Max K, you got some 'splainin' to do!) The other BFOC funding talking points are: TIFs - TIF (Tax Incremented Financing) Districts - Tax - That will fly well! Parking Improvement Districts - Another fancy name for a Tax Federal Grants: Right - like that is really going to happen... Friends of Organizations - BFOC - start the bake sale now! Cookies for paint... New idea:  maybe we should tax any and all concert poured in the city for bikes! That way we can pour more (separate) concrete for bikes! How ironic that this is Deja-Vu the Trinity Toll Road. ...Of course the NTTA could pay for the bike lanes - or better yet why not have toll lanes for bicycles!

• Robert, curious to know if you have had any further confirmation on this: "Though, interestingly, a former City Hall-walker told me yesterday city staff is misinterpreting the rule: I was told public hearings are necessary only when a street is widened, say, and not when it's restriped."

• Why didn't Ms. Hunt pipe up during one of those meetings and ask Mr. Consultant herself if the plan was feasible? She has been a council member for over six years and has approved every single budget during that time, so wouldn't she know first hand that the city has no 'extra' money? Or did she think the tax raise she voted for a couple of years ago would cover this as well?

• I want one of those moving sidewalk thingys, like they have in the airports. If we're gonna be World Class we've gotta start thinking futuristic...this bike lane shite seems 19th century "World Class"!

• I may be wrong on this, and I'm sure someone here will let me know if I am.  I'm not a lifelong Dallas resident, nor have I, until recently, paid much attention to what's going on in Dallas.  I have gotten a crash course in Dallas sociology and political science right here at Observer 101.  It would seem to me that much of what does or doesn't get done in Dallas is in the hands of this elusive group known as 'staff'.  I assume staff refers to department heads and their lackeys, who are accountable to the city manager's office.  It is apparent that the city manager's office doesn't really care what the council thinks, what they want, or whom they represent.  The city mgr seems to be working for the Citizen's Council. I would guess that the bike lanes and various other projects that seem to run into economic blockades are not in the interest of the City Manager, her lackeys, or her bosses.  Staff didn't raise any objections to what the consultants were saying because staff doesn't care.  Bike lanes aren't going to keep Park Cities' campaign contributions flowing in, nor are they going to be advantageous to Park Cities' residents.  You won't get a huge influx of Planoites, Friscans or other suburbanites coming in to bike on Dallas' streets.  It is a project that will benefit Dallas residents, and, sorry, there's no money in the budget for that.

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelahunt/sets/72157612874454382/with/3218076559/ When were these Photos Taken ? Because there are a lot of folks who were some where else that day.

• Is the suggestion that indie-rockers make lousy urban planners? 

• Agreed. The real question is "has this happened with other of the city's lofty 'plans'". Perhaps this is the reason they number in the hundreds but are never implemented properly. What about Downtown Dallas 360? Are costs there properly understood by the council? This city calls itself "can do" but beneath the bluster one wonders if the term is accurate at times. Meanwhile things need to be taking place on the ground NOW to make Dallas more sustainable and increase quality of life.

• I think the city (and A Hunt and Scott Griggs in particular) should look into this issue and make sure not to dismiss it as a snarky comment. What is the scope of work for which these bike consultants are paid? Consulting is a very high margin business, and can be well worth it when the advice is sound. It can save money and headaches down the road when it is done well. Often, it's just a bunch of expensive guys in suits telling you what you wanted to hear or already knew. Or telling you where they want you to get without building an actionable course to navigate your way to the desired end. If their services were supposed to include a plan to finance and pay for the bike plan recommendations, why isn't the city going back to them and asking for money back? If their recommendation that bike lanes could be wrapped into regular maintenance was just based on their idea that "hey, it shouldn't really be too much more expensive" then they did not actually provide the service for which they were contracted and paid. If it wasn't within the scope of their work, why wasn't city staff asked to chime in from day one? 

• They'd have to hire consultants to tell them when to flip, how many times to flip, whether or not to salt, and to let them know when it's done.

• with big campaign donations, don't forget

• Can't afford to paint bike lanes but, hey, let's build a toll road in the river bottoms.

• never once did city staff jump up and say, "That's not feasible, Mr. Consultant..." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Yeah right Angela.  And if that city staffer HAD jumped up and said that, he would have found himself out of work the next day. 

• A) Bike lanes are racist. B) The proper cronies weren't given the contract for it. C) World-class cities require special expensive paint for bike lanes. D) Larry Hagman wasn't available for a ribbon cutting to get it rolling. E) It's DISD's fault. F) Rick Perry G) Let Arlington have that project H) All of the above

• are you sure you want that trash can emptied? do you want it returned to its place? do i dump it in the usual dumpster? what day next month would you like this done? that will be $462.56 please for permits, labor, and taxes. why so much? well it's against the rules to put a trash can back without sanitizing it.   ...then the human might ask 'but the sanitized trash can isn't clean? to which big brother might reply...well it's a specially approved sanitizing spray that coats all the small bits of trash and makes them stick to the sides and bottom of the can.

• Only in Dallas. 

• the consultants........ Mr. Consultant. I guess they didn't do enough of the "Consult" Thing about this did they . "Never once, when the consultants assured the audience that "routine accommodation" would allow us to quickly and cheaply implement the bike plan, never once did city staff jump up and say, "That's not feasible, Mr. Consultant." Is finding out an expected cost part of the question Mr. Consultant should ask as a part of the job they are hired to do ? Perhaps next time it should be ? In Bold Print at the bottom of the page ? I am sure the actual payments the consultant expects to be paid are very clear to the council and to the consultant themselves.

• This will become my new excuse for everything: Did you take out the trash Honey? Nope, staff didn't tell me.

• Seems like some city staff need to be flipping hamburgers and not working at the city.

• Might I make a suggestion as to why the city is throwing up road blocks to implementing a bike plan? The city is designed to throw up road blocks for anything and everything. The only time these road blocks are whisked away with ease is when a big developer is behind whatever needs to get approved.

TotalComments: 28