Thank you for the opportunity to share our observations.

The first and last thing I want to say is that you have a process problem here and there’s no indication that you care to fix it.

I don’t live on Franklin. For the past fourteen years or so I’ve been by Bridge and 50th. But that entire time I’ve been painfully aware of the reckless management of Franklin Boulevard and the City’s ongoing refusal to engage seriously with it.

Bluntly, you have a hell of a nerve asking for feedback right now–after standing up an entire Stakeholder Committee, putting them through a year of meetings, pretending to pay attention to what they brought to the table, letting them produce an entire damn 140-page report, and then making a mockery of it. Why should people trust THIS little webform after the insult of the TLCI debacle?

👉👉👉 So my main actual recommendation is to quit fucking with the people like this.

In terms of the content of the plan, I’m 100% on board with what Bike Cleveland shared in their “action alert,” URL below. In short, people asked for raised crosswalks and they asked for physical curb extensions and bump-outs. Also, when they requested traffic circles they didn’t mean the kind that anyone can just drive over if they feel like it. (When I say “people” I mean the Stakeholder Committee and Bike Cleveland and Ohio City Inc.)

• People clearly asked for raised crosswalks and I’m asking you for them again.
• People clearly asked for roundabouts that calm traffic by forcing drivers to slow down and pay attention. I’m asking you for those again.
• People clearly asked for physical curb extensions and bump-outs and I’m asking you for those again too.

This project as planned constitutes an aggression against everyone who walks on Franklin Boulevard, rides a bike on Franklin, uses accessibility devices on Franklin, or even drives on Franklin. It’s an aggression against common sense and public safety. It’s especially an aggression against public engagement! If you had an actual plan to demoralize the people and discourage us from taking the time to participate in things like TLCI, well, congratulations because this tactic is definitely working. Who the hell wants to commit the energy to developing a comprehensive plan only to have Freddy’s people laugh at it?

I’m calling on Council members Spencer and McCormack, who are definitely reading this, to vote no on the authorization ordinance. We cannot be funding aggression against ourselves and our neighbors.

The first and last thing I want to say is that you have a process problem here and there’s no indication that you care to fix it.