The best transit plans start in the streets
 By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post The mayor and council are badly in need of a win. Nobody seems to be capable of performing the actual work they were elected to do. Forming citizen committees to make decisions for them is the only thing our leadership does well. Economic Development Policy? Form a citizen committee. Light Rail? Form a citizen committee. Sewer Infrastructure? Citizen committee. Park Land usage? Committee. Perhaps we should appoint a citizen committee to form a policy on forming citizen committees. Maybe we should start with something simple? We should demonstrate that we can maintain a network of streets before we try and convince voters we can maintain a rail system. Why won't somebody work on the metal plates? Steel plates in our roadways are not just an annoyance, they are a hazard when not properly installed or marked. In Kansas City, steel plates become permanent fixtures instead of the temporary safety measure they are intended to be. We need to create a strict, enforceable policy when it comes to plating and decking of our streets. The policy must be clear, and above all else it must successfully keep our streets safe for vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians. The policy must have guidelines for proper installation, maintenance and even length of time temporary steel plates or decking is allowed to remain in place. Additionally or City inspectors need to pay particular attention to these requirements and issue fines for failing to cover a street cut, displaced plates, failure to apply a non-skid resistant surface, failing to post proper signage or failure to finish the work and remove the plates in an allotted time period. There is no need to appoint a citizen committee "to look into alternatives." I have used the magic of Google to track down characteristics of successful policies already in use. Most of what I have here is shamelessly (1) All plating and decking installed by the permittee shall be made safe for vehicles and/or pedestrians and shall be adequate to carry the load. (2) The size of the plate or decking shall be large enough to span the opening, be firmly placed to prevent rocking and shall overlap the edges of trenches and openings and be sufficiently ramped to provide smooth riding and safe condition. (3) All plating and decking shall be fastened by splicing, countersinking or otherwise protected to prevent movement. (4) Where deflections are more than 3/4", heavier sections of plates or decking or intermediate supports shall be installed. (5) All permittees will clearly mark each plate with a project number that corresponds to the permit for that application. (6) A database shall be made available through the City website that will allow citizens to look up projects by their project number and obtain relevant information such as permitted project completion dates and a plain language explanation of the work being performed. (7) All permittees who install plating and decking during the winter months shall either post signs at the site indicating "Steel Plates Ahead Raise Plow" or shall countersink said plates flush to the level of the roadway. All signs shall be of the size and type specified in the Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. These signs shall be placed on the sidewalk, adjacent to the curb, facing vehicle traffic five feet prior to the plates. On two-way streets, signs shall be placed on both sides of the street five feet prior to the plates. (8) All plating and decking shall have a skid-resistant surface equal to or greater than the adjacent existing street or roadway surface. This should be an easy one for the mayor and council. A layup. Save some tires and rattled teeth and maybe those citizen satisfaction surveys might improve. I realize policy isn't fun. It's boring, tedious work and there aren't any golden shovels to break ground with or giant scissors to cut ribbons, but maybe a little bit of policy work will pay some dividends down the road... So to speak. |
posted by Mark at 8:30 AM
Comments on "The best transit plans start in the streets"
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Greg Thurman said ... (5:52 PM) :
post a commentI voted for a mayor who claimed to care a lot about this topic when he was auditor. My work is done, right?
Good to see you getting back to the practical policy suggestions you used to post.
I completely agree about the citizen committee criticism. That's just the cowardly council shirking their responsibility. They all talk about their qualifications and experience during the campaign but all they do is appoint committees. Worthless.
Good stuff on the plates too.
Your suggestions make total sense, unfortunately I think the problems is that the city itself is the biggest abuser of metal plates.
The city make all the policy it wants, but it's gonna have a hard time making its own water department follow the policy. With the vast number leaks in water and sewer pipes, it might even be impossible for the department comply if it wanted to.
Fixing the water and sewer pipes might be the best way to get rid of the metal plates.
Eric,
Yes I agree that the Water Department is the number one user of metal street plates. We even own a special crane truck just for the purpose of installing and removing them.
I don't completely fault the Water Department though. They spend most of their time in emergency mode chasing breaks. But if we tightened up our processes we could track things and improve efficiency. Other cities do it. We are not unique.
This makes perfect sense. Lets hire some consultants and form a citizen's comittee!
I think a large part of the problem is the city needs to roll some heads. Any incompetent workers need to be FIRED just like what happens in the real word. Set some standards/objectives in place and those who can't meet them get the axe. The departments I'm familiar with have no accountability.
While I agree with "city council's" suggestion, I think it should be up to the voters. In Spring 2009 there should be a ballot initiative to decide whether consideration should be given to hiring consultants and forming citizen's committees. Then if such committees agree with the proposals we can target a 2011 ballot initiative to let the voters decide whether or not to go ahead and implement them.
It seems that some previous mayor and city council beat The KC Post, the current city council, and the current mayor on this "lay up". The city has an ordinance regarding the rules of street plates Article XII, Section 64-419 to 435. It is very similar to the one you "borrowed" from NYC. There are some minor differences in the two sets of rules but they are essentially the same from what I can tell.
The KC ordinance says it must be enforced by the Public Works director. It also says a permit is required to place a plate. I cannot find an application on the city website for this type permit nor have I ever heard of the permit. Maybe it is time the city manager encourage the Public Works director to enforce the law.
Public Works does have a nice standard drawing to use... http://www.kcmo.org/pubworks/stds/dwg/Street%20Plate.pdf
Last I heard the mayor had made significant strides in reducing the number of street plates since taking office. What was his goal?? Reducing the number by 75% in his first year?
I believe that the metal plates are not owned by the city but are "rented"? Does anybody know the economics of the plates?
There has been no improvement in the condition of city streets – at least not in the 4th district. Metal plates are still an issue, and once the holes are patched they are often not patched correctly and result in hazardous craters and inverse speed-bumps in the road.
I must have been mistaken in thinking safe road conditions were a priority for "regular folks".
Metal plates are actually a new innovative traffic calming technique to get people to reduce their speeds while driving.
It was created and approved by the FHWA in 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Okay, maybe not, but I'm sure there's been some consultant somewhere paid by some stupid government to study this.
Wouldn't it be a simpler task of doing a trolley. Less expensive. Won't have to replace bridges. Wont have a delay in construction like you would with lightrail.
Alot of Businesses will be effected by this outcome when lightrail is built.
The KCATA showed some drawings at the Mohart Community Center and its not a pretty site whoever lives west of Old Hyde Park Historic District to Broadway. I wasn't surprise to see Nutterville untouched.
I notice at the meeting the KCATA aren't saying certain words like Park and Ride Hubs. They are now called Nodes.
It'll be 2 cars length and not 3. Each car is 90 feet long. If I stand correct.
I can't see how this makes a difference: KCATA says $60 million a mile, opponents say $75 million.
Off by $15 million.
15 years ago the lightrail bridge over the Missouri river would of cost $80 million. How much now?
City Planners since former Mayor Cleaver rein has always been a target to get Old Hyde Park. If you notice buinesses has been popping up to the north and south of Main Street closing toward the middle (Old Hyde Park). Cracks me up.
Let's stop the lightrail madness and switch to a more economic transit which would be "Trolley".
Its trolley friendly.