A crash at the intersection of Colorado and Sylvan in 2022. Photo courtesy of Elmer Powell.
A Tuesday afternoon virtual town hall to address recommended projects for the 2024 bond package revealed several infrastructure-related omissions in our neighborhood.
The Sylvan/Colorado intersection and measures that would calm traffic and promote walkability in downtown Elmwood have both been left off the current list of recommended projects that has been given to the Community Bond Task Force.
The recommended projects list was developed by the five City Council appointed Community Bond Subcommittees, and is given to the bond task force who will finalize funding plans largely based on those recommendations.
“There are traffic accidents at (the Sylvan/Colorado) intersection basically every single month,” said one Kessler Park neighbor during the virtual town hall. “What is the reason that project hasn’t been included?”
City Council member Chad West was in attendance at the town hall, and said it was the first he was hearing of the intersection and downtown Elmwood’s exclusion from the recommended projects map.
West said the intersection and downtown Elmwood were two of three top infrastructural priorities in District 1 that have been identified by neighbors.
“That intersection is a public safety nightmare,” West said in the meeting.
The bond subcommittees and task force work independently of the city council, so West said he is only able to speculate on why the projects were not included. The third priority, Jefferson Boulevard traffic calming, is listed as a recommended project.
“It’s possible that with limited funds they had to take projects that are further along,” West told the Advocate after the town hall. “Or there could be other sources of funding outside of the bond… that I’m not aware of. It could be one of the two or a combination.”
Jennifer Nicewander, interim director of Bond and Construction Management, could not immediately be reached for clarification on why the projects were not included.
A process that West described as “the Hunger Games,” the bond task force will now finalize the list of projects that will be included in the 2024 bond package.
For as long as public meetings are being held, West told town hall attendees that neighbors can continue advocating for the Sylvan/Colorado and downtown Elmwood projects.
“I can’t just come in and push those (projects) through,” West told the Advocate. “I would encourage neighbors to show up and advocate.”
A task force town hall will be held at city hall this evening, Sept. 26, from 6-9:00 p.m.
A list of other meetings, currently running through Oct. 5, can be found here.
