I commend the group who felt there was a need to alleviate traffic on Telegrah Road because of the high volume of people in the slug line. However, I feel that the group did not walk through the change in its entirety. Although they resolved one problem, there are now two problems created as a result.
First of all, everyone who is now a part of the new slug line for 14th Street, etc. no doubt used to park in the lot closest to Telegraph Road - easy and quick distance to the slug line. Now these people have chosen to park on the other side of the lot -- pushing back those people who have parked there and who ride the commuter bus. The walk to the bus shelter has increased tremendously. For a slug, a longer walk should not be a problem as they can catch the next car available - for a bus rider, it is the difference of running to catch the oncoming bus or to wait another 15-20 minutes for the next bus.
Secondly, because of the influx of parkers in this area (keeping in mind that the other side of the lot is virtually empty), people are parking illegally - giving drivers little or no room to come into and out of the lot.
Thirdly, the slugs are required to stand in a long line (with no median strip for protection) and the people line with the line of cars has caused a jam up to get into and out of the lot in that particular area. This morning there were two near misses of cars due to this problem.
I am all for making life easier these days - but in order to have an effective plan, the plan must be thought out and it must work for everyone! The current plan is not effective - someone or something will get injured! It is not safe.
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