I would think that for $1.5 million they could have afforded to build a few underground passages where the hike & bike trail crosses major roadways. It's not just the John Stockbauer crossing that is dangerous--the Miori Ln one is even narrower and more difficult to navigate, especially at night. I think this project was a great idea, poorely executed. Big surprise.

where was the kids parents??? Since when is it the problem of the tax payers to spend money on this. a little personal responsability from parents in teaching the rules to their children and then supervising them when using the trail would be nice. That said victoria drivers need to learn how to drive too!!! Ever since they quit drivers ed in school there has been a huge increase in stupid drivers who don't know proper driving skills and rules. It would be money better spent teaching our youth how to drive since parents won't. There again the lack of responsabilty from the parents. they want kids but not the job of teaching them right from wrong. A large percentage of kids today have no clue on how to be safe drivers. Also please put down that phone while driving. Talking or texting while driving should be illegal. Cell phones cause more accidents than any other factor including alcohol. So if you must use the phone while driving please buy a hands free system for everyones sake. Besides people that are not smart enough to know the rules get thinned out by natural selection.(survival of the smartest!)

Valid questions, Gabe. I've had similar concerns about city driving and driving laws, which I forwarded to you, Gabe - three times.

But I've yet to hear from you.

dollysdad,

You have a valid point asking where we were before it was built but I totally disagree with your opposition to questioning WHY it was built, even after-the-fact.

The driving factors for these expenditures are of utmost importance and need to be brought to the light of day. I have tried to attend or watch every council meeting for at least the last two years and undoubtedly I missed some. I don't recall this being discussed at any length or I would have been there opposing it. We need more citizens taking an active role in being watchdogs of how taxpayer money is spent. I personally don't have time to attend every city, county and school district meeting (plus all of the auxillary meetings like Parks & Recreation) but each of these entities need to be watched by taxpayers.

Which one will you focus on to help us all be certain our tax dollars are being spent wisely?

So, what is going to be acomplished by questioning the WHY the trail was built AFTER it was built? Where were all you people BEFORE it was built?

When we have an eyesore of an abandoned water park, are you going to whine about that AFTER the money is spent?

Where we have a new COMMUNITY CENTER with NO events going on it, are you going to complain about the cost of upkeep?

Given how a simple project like a hike and bike trail is so expensive, and so screwed up, can we really trust the City Council, Mr. WindyWages, or any of his hencemen? Not with another dime says this taxpayer.

Mr. Semenza,

I agree the question raised by Thirdpartyobserver is very interesting and your response is even moreso.

Based on your response it is an accurate representation of fact that the parks & rec. dept. advised the city council(who agreed) to build this trail based on responses to a survey from less then 8/10 of 1% of the population of Victoria. This is amazing.

Twice that number of citizens responded in opposition to continuing the yard and waste pickup but the council reversed themselves I assume based on an outcry from other citizens.

JackDuece, I can agree with you on the statement that pedestrians should use caution when crossing any road. The city council made, in my opinion, a very bad decision when authorizing this trail crossing. Common sense dictates you do not put a pedestrian crosswalk in mid-block of a heavily traveled major throughfare, PERIOD. No amount of warning lights or signage is going to make an unsafe situation safe. This trail needs to end at Stockbauer, permanent barricades be erected and the last section of the trail on the north side of the road be demolished. Way too many tax dollars have been wasted on this "boondoogle", borrowing a word from a previous poster. The city has not overreacted to the child being hit they have not reacted fast enough, again in my opinion. You can never prevent every accident from happening but you can surely not make conscience decisions that create situations that have a huge potential for accidents to take place.

The potential for a pedestrian/vehicle accident existed at this location before the crosswalk was installed. In my opinion the installation of this crosswalk increased the potential by a multiple of 1000 (at a minimum). The money has already been wasted, fix the problem, destroy the portion that will lead to future accidents and move on.

Here's the answer to ThirdPartyObserver's question, as e-mailed to me by Doug Cochran, the city's parks and rec director:

"358 responded to this survey. 200 indicated they were in favor of trails. 129 were not in favor and 29 did not respond."

Hope that answers your question. Other questions arise based on Cochran's response: What scientific measures did the survey employ, etc. I'll work on those answers, too.

Thanks -- Gabe

In my opinion, the city is overreacting to one pedestrian being struck by a vehicle (granted it was a kid) accidents will happen no matter what is done. I've seen overpasses and underpasses in other cities and some people will refuse to use them regardless of their availability.

Here are my cost-effective, commonsense solutions:

Moving the flashing lights up a block so drivers can actually be warned in time to stop when there are people crossing the street?

As they are currently installed, the lights flash right when you are at the crosswalk, leaving you very little time to react if someone starts to cross.

Pedestrians need to use care. Just because you push the button doesn't mean you automatically go. You still need to look for vehicles and make sure it is safe to cross. Once you start crossing, keep looking for traffic and when you cross in front of a stopped vehicle, proceed with caution as a car may be coming from the next lane, hidden from your view.

IMO, a big part of the problem is a lack of education, as this city is the least pedestrian friendly city I have ever been to.

Therefore, part of the solution will be to educate both motorists and pedestrians on the safety issues.

Get VPD community service officers into the classrooms in elementary school or kindergarten and teach it.

Parents, go online and find the safety tips and teach them to your kids and you may also learn how to safely cross a street.

VPD already has an office at the mall, why not set up displays on weekends and have regularly scheduled presentations?

Good question, ThirdPartyObserver. I'll try to get that answer for you and post it in here today.

Thanks -- Gabe

As it seems from the study that was done the public wanted the multi use trail, so now let the public that uses it take some responsibility. Place a sign on both sides of the trail that states that cross traffic does not stop for pedestrains or bikers and to cross at their on risk. This would mean that people should do here at this trail what they do if they cross any street, Stop, Look Both Ways, and Only Cross When it is Clear. In so many things now days people want everthing made perfect in our non perfect world and expect "big brother" to do it. I say don't expect "big brother" to fix everything and take some of the responsibility for things yourself.

I think the barricade was the best idea they had so far. That cross walk is located in a bad spot it has a blind spot due to the privacy fences and houses on that one side of the road. I myself was unaware until I was upon the crosswalk one night. I did not know it crossed there and it was during the dusk period and the walkers fail to use the flashers so I lucked out and did not hit anyone but I could have been in a horrible accident. When the trail first opened it was being used but I have noticed that it is not being used as much now that the novelty has worn off. Actually the past 2 weeks I have seen nobody on the trail when I have passed it.

Gabe,

Can you find out how many people responded to this survey and specifically how many responses (people) voted in favor of these three specifics in the ranking? I for one think a hike bike trail is a good idea, I just think THIS hike/bike trail was not throughly planned.

$1.5million sounds like a huge amount of money for the end results. I believe the number of $84thousand has been thrown out as the annual maintenance cost. This trail is going to cost taxpayers almost $2.5million over ten years, almost $250K a year. If 5% of the population use this trail every year (approx. 3,250 people) the cost is $77 per person per year. Good idea, maybe. Effective use of taxpayer dollars, I'm not sure. Costs to correct the NEW issues created by building the trail, yet to be seen but my guess is in the hundreds of thousands of additional dollars. I hope this survey had positive responses to the level of greater then 10% of the population or I would have to deem it another boondoogle created by the city council.

Just an Idea. How about some kid of camera that can see around the curve and signal walkers when it is ok to walk. OR how about a fence next to the street so that people who live near and need to access the trail in that spot can do so from the sidewalk. A catwalk is very expensive and to me out of the question for my tax dollars unless to me grant money can be aquired to pay for the entire thing. The other thing is parents need to be more watchful of children.