I'm tempted to be annoyed by the fact that ADOT has shut down I-10 between Seventh Street and Seventh Avenue for roadwork for the third weekend in the last four (and plans to do it one more time next weekend). I was going to write a post about the way that decision has choked downtown streets such as McDowell and Roosevelt, causing large backups on Seventh Street and Seventh Avenue in the process and making errands like running to the grocery store inordinately difficult.
But I decided the better approach was to see the bright side of ADOT's move. Thousands of people who would have just zipped past downtown Phoenix and given the area a passing notice, if any at all, were exposed to the area these last few weekends. Those who took their detour along Roosevelt Street got to see, among other things, relatively new urban housing developments, a bakery, restaurants, and a new record store. This had to be quite a shock for many in this metro area, where it's not uncommon to hear people say they haven't been downtown in 15 or more years. No doubt many of those people expect downtown to be a frightening and crime-ridden place, and almost certainly those people were pleasantly surprised.
On second thought, maybe we can petition ADOT to shut down I-10 every weekend.
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2 comments:
Maybe that I-10 tunnel should never have been built through the largest urban core in the state. It's disgusting, I wish Phoenix would have never let that link complete the whole interstate system in August 1990. Phoenix fought it for a very long time, that's why it was the last piece of the system to be complete.
While I don't have an issue with the completion of I-10, I have to agree with the use of the word 'disgusting' to describe the way the freeway scars the middle of downtown. While the freeway at least goes underground for six blocks between Third Avenue and Third Street, how many hundreds of historic homes were lost during construction of the remainder of the road?
The neighborhoods north and south of the freeway-- what's left of them, anyway-- are forever separated from each other thanks to I-10.
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