Tue
Sep 21 2010
03:03 pm
By: R. Neal
They've got a website. They've got the twitter. They've got the Facebook. They've got press releases. They've got Region 1 HQ offices out on I-40 with a local phone number. They've had numerous public meetings and more are planned.
Now TDOT has opened a Henley Bridge Project Community Center on Blount Ave. that will be staffed Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM to "provide a central location for community members, business owners and motorists to obtain information about the project, to learn more about the detours around the bridge closure and to receive updates on work to repair the bridge."
So to recap, the "structurally deficient" bridge will be closed for repairs for three years and there will be detours. All of this has been widely reported from a never ending series of press releases. What else do people need to know, and why does TDOT need a full-time office to get this information out? How many people will actually visit the project community center after the first week or so?
With all the "out of control" government spending and the state budget emergency crisis situation, maybe a full-time community PR outlet is something we could do without?
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Boy, you're grouchy
Boy, you're grouchy today.
Most of the folks I've talked to in south Knoxville like the idea of this center.
BTW, I believe there's been 2 public meetings and 1 more planned. And all of those have been pushed for VERY hard by the community, with the help of the Knoxville Office of Neighborhoods. Not sure they would have happened otherwise.
The TDOT press release says
The TDOT press release says there have seven public meetings. Anyway, I still don't see the need. The cost per visit after the first week will probably be > $1000. I bet there will be days at a time when nobody at all shows up at the center.
Seven???? Boy, that's a
Seven???? Boy, that's a surprise to me. They must be counting meetings they had with folks like the Super Chamber, which weren't exactly what I call public meetings.
Henley
PR overkill? That's crazy talk.
with all the admonitions
with all the admonitions about having to "make do with less," this is a great example of how not to do it. i don't recall anything similar related to the gay street closure. and why is the bridge repair taking 3 years in the first place? so the contractor can obtain an 'early completion' bonus?
why is the bridge repair
why is the bridge repair taking 3 years
They are tearing it all the way down to the arches and completely rebuilding the street surface infrastructure or whatever you call it. Sounds like a pretty big job.
I dunno. I'm having some
I dunno. I'm having some difficulty here. Usually, folks bitch (correctly) that TDOT doesn't make enough effort to communicate with the public. Now ya'll are bitching that they're doing too much.
Exactly what would be the acceptable amount of communciation on this project from TDOT?
Exactly what would be the
Exactly what would be the acceptable amount of communciation on this project from TDOT?
Everything I mentioned in the original post? A hotline number for those who are internet challenged and without access to a newspaper or local TV news report?
Seriously, is there anyone who cares about the project beyond the detour routes and when it will be finished who can't check the website or send an email if they have a question that isn't covered?
I guess the silver lining is that some free federal stimulus money is creating a job or two for someone to sit over there and twitter in between games of computer solitaire.
If you actually call the
If you actually call the phone number on the TDOT website and ask, you'll learn that the community center doubles as an office for the engineering firm working on this project. So they're making that space amenable for the public to drop in, ask questions, and pick up relevant printed materials. That way, people don't have to go all the way out to Strawberry Plains to ask a question if they have one. Makes good sense to me.
I suppose the misinformed stridency of the Tea Party winguts is less surprising, given that the host of a 'progressive' blog is willing to assume that the gubmint is, whenever possible, doing the dumbest, most wasteful thing they can. What ever happened to picking up the phone or sending a quick email to ask the easy questions before jumping to conclusions?
"Seriously, is there anyone who cares about the project beyond the detour routes and when it will be finished who can't check the website or send an email if they have a question that isn't covered?"
I think that one's been answered.
the community center doubles
the community center doubles as an office for the engineering firm working on this project.
I wondered about that. Highly ineffective PR to not mention that and your other points in their press release. Paging Mike Cohen...
The press release touts a community center. Not an office for the engineering firm. (Say, who are they, and what are their political connections? Oh, wait, I know. Call and ask them!)
You really expect them to
You really expect them to anticipate every possible negative assumption that will be made and chase it down in a press release?
The underlying points I was actually trying to make were:
1. Don't automatically assume the worst of people.
2. If you're not sure about something and it would be easy enough to pick up the phone and ask, why not do that before going with the negative assumption and blasting someone (or in this case, the gubmint) online?
You really expect them to
You really expect them to anticipate every possible negative assumption that will be made and chase it down in a press release?
Yes. They have a former "journalist" as their paid Region 1 community relations (PR) person.
Either way, I am now more than ever convinced that the "community center" is a waste of time and effort (and money). Touting it in a ceremony today is, too. Sorry if you don't agree.
Disclaimer: I don't work for TDOT or anyone else with a dog in this hunt and don't have relatives or know anybody who works there and don't get paid to foist my opinions on an unsuspecting public.
I don't work for TDOT or
I don't work for TDOT or anyone else with a dog in this hunt, either. I am nonetheless perplexed. I suspect somehow that the issue is not the issue here.
Either way, I am now more than ever convinced that the "community center" is a waste of time and effort (and money).
Why? If they're actually taking a space that the engineers would be occupying anyway and using a portion of it to make it easy for some curious member of the public to wander in and ask questions about the project, how is that wasteful?
I suppose if you're allergic to all forms of PR, you could see a ceremony opening the public space to be gratuitous, but aren't you the one who took guff on here for going to the Ruby Tuesday's PR shindig recently and posting positive reflections of the event?
OK, then.
OK, then.
the community center doubles
the community center doubles as an office for the engineering firm working on this project
The community center is opening now, whereas there has yet to be a finalized bid or project start date. People can drop by and do what? Ask for directions on how to get somewhere once the bridge is closed?
You seem to have some
You seem to have some questions. Why not drop in and ask?
No questions. I think that's
No questions. I think that's the issue. The bridge is going to be closed sometime in the future. No one can answer when. the bridge will be closed for approx. three years. There is nothing any citizens can do about it. The bridge will be closed.
How can you get from point A to point B when the bridge closes? There will be big orange detour signs. Anyone know SoKno? You can get from SoKno to the other side of the river by crossing the Gay Street bridge, the Alcoa Hwy bridge, or go on out East on John Sevier or go West to Pellissippi.
Update: or, oh yeah, the South Knox/James White bridge to that big slash of a road they put through SoKno.
So. Am I to understand you
So. Am I to understand you think they should dispense with the public info during the project, and that no one will have any questions once it's underway? Should we refer you back to this thread if, in 18 months, you're posing questions or making commentary on KnoxViews about the bridge?
Did you not even read my
Did you not even read my original post at all?
I did, and your complaint was
I did, and your complaint was you don't think that there will be many questions and that the "community center" will be a waste. What's missing from the equation is the fact that you didn't take the step to find out that the community center is actually something that probably doesn't cost much at all. So if it's there, and only eleven people ask questions over three years, who cares? If that's the case then it's the equivalent of moving into a neighborhood and choosing either to wave at your neighbors as the walk by, or to ignore them. Waving at your neighbors doesn't take much effort, but it's a heck of a lot nicer.
? OK, then.
?
OK, then.
OK, then.
OK, then.
Before they start
Before they start construction on the Henley bridge, TDOT needs to make both of the north bound lanes of Chapman Hwy, turn lanes onto Moody. They should also temporally close Moody on the west side of Chapman.
They should also make both lanes of Moody onto South Knox Blvd, turn lanes, and then widen the on/off ramps of SKB making them both two lanes wide. If not we are going to have a mess in South Knoxville. The west bound lane of Moody at the SKB (coming from the Round-up) needs either a temporary stop light or stop sign.
Sevierville Pike, and Cherokee Trail will become unbelievable nightmares.
I am for the Henley Street repairs but I dread the three year headache.
The bridge is going to be
The bridge is going to be closed sometime in the future. No one can answer when. the bridge will be closed for approx. three years.
If I'm not mistaken, TDOT hopes to announce the actual date of the bridge closure at the 9/28 public meeting.
Over spending by our
Over spending by our government will bring down this once great nation! And the liberals that cant accept the truth can make fun of the Tea party all they want! It just shows the "better than you" attitude of the Left!!
P.S. I think people bitch
P.S. I think people bitch about TDOT communications because it generally consists of "here's what we're going to do, too bad if you don't like it and that's all we've got to say about that."
Umm, no. The spouse says Gay
Umm, no. The spouse says Gay Street or JWP are superior bike routes anyway.
Gay Street to Blount Ave.
Gay Street to Blount Ave. Right on Blount then over to Martin Mill. That's the traditional route to Neubert Springs. Completely gone.
Huh? Once Blount opens back up this route will all be open. It won't be affected by the bridge closing.
It will require a traverse
It will require a traverse over to Moody and that adds 20 minutes of urban riding.
Blount will be finished soon, and with the bridge closed there will be no cross traffic on Chapman and probably less traffic on Blount. It will be a biker's boon while it lasts.
Even with Blount closed, it's easy to take residential streets around the construction and be right back on route.
I can't imagine Blount will
I can't imagine Blount will be closed much longer. In any case, you can cross there and turn just a block south (St. Paul?) and take Augusta to Blount with barely an inconvenience. There are even some pretty gardens to admire along the way.
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too cute!
I agree, been thinking the whole thing seems silly and cutesy! Don't have to cross henley but sometimes I want to and I dread this thing. If it truly needs it then I suppose they gotta do what they gotta do though.
I like the fact that TDOT has
I like the fact that TDOT has bent over backwards to inform the public about this project and do not at all consider it a waste of money or time for them to do what they have been doing.
Putting a buffer between TDOT and business failures in that area
A number of businesses in proximity to the bridge on the south side of the river are going to struggle now that customers will be taking alternative routes to and from downtown, many have already announced relocations, possible relocations and for that part of Chapman Highway to go quiet for 3 years has got to be a concern from a number of businesses there.
The bridge construction essentially kills any redevelopment/reuse of the old Baptist Hospital site, anything conteplated over there might as well be mothballed for 36 months as you can't get equipment, workers, and eventually customers through there until 2014.
Economy
Considering that it will take at least 3 years for the economy to support a project the size of a Baptist redo (excuse me, Riverside at bridgeview) I don't think the Henley redo will be an issue.
Y'all seem to forget there is a perfectly good bridge 3 blocks to the east that can handle a good bit more traffic than it currently gets. Plus ginormous bridges a mile or 2 away both east and west.
I was looking at the detour
I was looking at the detour pdf file on the Henley bridge project website and noticed that after turning from Moody towards James White Parkway, they have two lanes turning onto Cottrell and only one entering JWP. Isn't this going to cause a bottle neck? (link)