I’ve been meaning to blog about the meeting about the closure of Gorham this summer, but just haven’t gotten around to it. Essentially, everyone agreed to shut down the whole street as opposed to keeping it half open and making the project last longer. My biggest concern is the 100 buses that go down Gorham every day that will be diverted to E. Washington. Several elderly people have concerns about walking over to E. Wash and as people get off the bus going East it means they will need to cross E. Washington which is somewhat of a major feat in and of itself.
And, below is something posted to one (or two) of the neighborhood listserves.
I would say about 30 neighborhood people showed up. I walked away depressed as it was clear that traffic engineering was aware of neighborhood issues, and they were not there to listen to concerns but rather to tell us what will happen. At one point I asked if they were taking notes on issues raised — nope, no need. Many issues were raised in addition to converting johnson to two way, and they will not be addressed. Such as, how will we protect East Mifflin and East Dayton from traffic that will hit a closed Gorham and a blocked up Baldwin. The answer: Everyone will share in the pain of this major detour.
With that said, here is what was presented:
1. This project came about due to serious degradation in portions of the 100-year-old clay sewer main. Could be a safety issue if a main breaks, potentially causing a sink hole.
2. Engineering will put up signs on Aberg Avenue alerting folks of Gorham closure to encourage folks to get off at E. Washington to come in.
3. A second left hand turn lane will be added on Packers Avenue at First Street to encourage traffic to go to East Washington.
4. A sign at N. Sherman and Sherman will alert drivers of the Gorham closure
5. Buses will be routed to East Washington
6. The detour is east washington to outer loop to wisconsin to back on Gorham
7. No budget to bury utilities, though if landowner wants to pay, they may try to fit that in.That’s about it. Work will start in May and go into September.
