Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Ridgewood sprayground: New 'Resident Parking Only' signs

Residents across from the Ridgewood sprayground have been living with parking and traffic congestion for the last three summers, ever since the water playground opened. Neighbor Melanie Grimes (who sent the photo of the parking problems — see the sprayground in the background?) told me that this week, "Resident Parking Only" signs went up along the 6700 block of Trammel Drive. Grimes says she and her neighbors have been working with the city for six months to make this happen.

The major reason 100 percent of the block’s residents petitioned the city for the signs? Safety, Grimes says, obviously for neighbors living there, but mainly for the people who have been parking on their side of the street and crossing to the sprayground.

"The sprayground is located just past a dangerous blind turn and next to a fire station," Grimes says, "and we haven’t been able to slow down traffic with speed bumps because of access required by the fire station. Many young children are crossing this street during busy times, particularly when the sprayground first opens in late spring and on weekends during the summer." Also, neighbors have had to deal with danger backing out of their driveways, plus trash and other disrespect for their property.

The signs make Trammel Drive "Resident Parking Only" zone 22 — the 22nd such block to be granted this zoning in the city. Most of the zones are — where else? — Lower Greenville.

Grimes says she wanted to pass the information on to other Lakewood/East Dallas residents who might use the sprayground "so folks aren’t unnecessarily ticketed or towed." That's very nice of her.

Sarcastic cop ticketing cyclists near White Rock Lake

Cops are enjoying a sunny day at the lake, ticketing cyclists (and cars of course) who ignore or roll through stop signs, according to a report on the DMN Crime blog. A good practice, no doubt — let's keep everyone safe out there.

But is the following commentary really necessary?:

The officer quoted in the post says, "No one can get along here. Cars hate cyclists; cyclists hate the walkers, and walkers hate the cyclists."

Talk about a Dark Cloud on a bright day. I'm sure the comment was in jest but come on, officer — we need to be fostering better feelings amongst the users of the lake, don't we?

Don't get me wrong, I actually think the police are on the right track —we need to raise awareness about rules and etiquette around the lake and encourage folks to follow it (if that means writing tickets, so be it). But being nasty to each other won't get anything accomplished and it certainly won't bring order to an increasingly crowded public park. Are there a lot of neighbors who share Officer Giron's jaded point of view? If so, there is something seriously wrong out there.

I-35 toll lanes: What will they think of next?

Apparently, the state and federal governments are so strapped for cash that the only way to widen I-35E is to put in toll lanes. The project, to add capacity between Farmers Branch and Denton, requires $2.9 billion, and only $535 million exists.

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, is one of the proponents of the plan. You can email him with your thoughts through his web site. Interestingly, the release on the site that details yesterday’s news conference doesn’t use the word toll once.

Once again, just in case any politicians aren’t paying attention: No. No. No. Once they start tolling free highways, there is no turning back. If it’s I-35E today, then it’s LBJ tomorrow, and Central Expressway the day after that.

Technorati Tags: I-35E,toll roads,Michael Burgess

Injured cyclist's friends rally for safer streets

A group of neighbors are out to make more bicycle-friendly streets, in the name of their friend, Paul Jerde, a cyclist who was seriously injured last June while riding near White Rock Lake. Here's the background story on Paul in today's Morning News. Paul's friends, family and co-workers are maintaining this blog containing constant updates about his condition. The group has a petition headed for City Council they hope will help enforce more safety and traffic measures such as street markings, separated bike lanes and "better education and communication among cyclists, motorists, city planners and law enforcement officials."

Standing on DART trains: Wave of the future?

We’ve seen record ridership numbers for DART, which have been mirrored across the country as gas prices have increased. In Chicago, where the cash-strapped CTA has also seen increases but can’t afford to buy new rail cars, the transit agency has a plan: Remove seats from existing cars.

 

The CTA expects to cram 25 to 50 more passengers onto trains that normally hold 90 riders if it takes the seats out and eliminates the aisle. The seatless cars will be used only during the busiest travel periods; an eight-car train could have as many as two cars without seats. The agency will start using the new trains later this year.

 

DART apparently has no plans to do this, and the agency added bigger capacity cars earlier this summer. The new cars seat 25 more passengers than normal cars, and DART says standees can add another 75 more.

 

 

Technorati Tags: DART,ridership increases,mass transit

Can generation Y improve the electric car's street cred?

Contributing blogger Norman Alston recently wrote about the electric car known as the GEM. In fact there's been pretty extensive conversation here at Back Talk regarding so-called Smart Cars and electric cars as our neighborhood and the world struggle with gas prices and/or environmental concerns.

From what I've read, here and elsewhere, seems the GEM is funny looking and often draws unwanted attention either from irritated drivers of bigger faster vehicles, or amused passersby who hurl snarky remarks at operators of the tiny cart car that tops off at about 25 mph. But what if, somehow the GEM became cool ... what then?

Young people drive the market for many purveyors of modern technology —so if teenagers start clamoring for GEMS and similar electric cars, will the miniscule motor vehicle become the trend of the near automotive future? Kids aren't crazy over these cars yet, but at least one teenager, Kiley Trent, a junior at Lakehill, hopes they will be someday soon. See Kiley in this video here—she's just awesome.

The video of Kiley came attached to a story about Lakewood businessman, Dennis Wheeler, who plans to open a new business devoted exclusively to selling all-electric vehicles. From his comments it's evident he believes the cars will sell ... a lot faster than they run, anyway.

$3.78 a gallon at the Skillman and Live Oak Texaco? Really?

I could not believe my eyes when I drove by the Texaco at Skillman and Live Oak yesterday. Gas was $3.789 a gallon.

Not only was this the lowest price I've seen around — I filled up for $3.839 yesterday after some searching — but this was also the gas station for which neighbor Matt Wood won the Back Talk contest for highest gas prices in the neighborhood. I even commented that this station's prices are always about 10 cents higher than any others around. Not so yesterday — gas at the Exxon Mobil and Shell stations on Mockingbird and Skillman were $3.959. What happened? Did they read our blog, perhaps?

By the way, the highest gas price when we held the contest in late March was $3.299. Sigh.

Fitzhugh/Swiss Avenue stop sign damaged

Just a heads up for anyone who frequents Fitzhugh and Swiss Avenue. The stop sign at the intersection is down and could pose as a hazard for drivers since not every intersection along Swiss Avenue has a stop sign. Be on the look out for drivers who don't know that they have to stop either because they don't see it or are not familiar with our neighborhood.

Munger-Haskell intersection finally fixed

Dallas has finally fixed a problem area that has been a hazard for years. If drivers are familiar with Lemmon and Haskell, they would know that the two streets merge while heading toward Ross Avenue, and right afterward, the four-lane street abruptly becomes a three-lane with no forewarning. The far left lane suddenly disappears into a sidewalk (which intersects with Munger) with only a yellow and black sign to indicate its end.

Now there is a big "turn only" sign, and bright, white lines indicating that it is a turn-only lane. This problem street used to cause accidents and near misses when unfamiliar drivers would brake suddenly or swerve. Having driven on this road numerous times to get home, I know to watch for drivers who are not aware. Now East Dallasites can feel more comfortable while traveling this often busy street.

GEM cars: Since we're on the subject

Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) makes one of the few truly all-electric vehicles available today. I thought I would mention it in light of the discussion raging in Rick's post from yesterday. I have friends who own these and have actually driven one on multiple occasions. The question is how useful is it, really?