The WayneWho staff has been having some great debates since the issue of moving the Lynx transfer hub into the downtown area away from Osceola Square Mall. We find it sad the direction that the discussion has taken with the downtown businesses and many of our elected officals, but changes to transportation systems can be emotional. We remember when the issue of Martin Luther King Boulevard finally came before the commission as a real issue out of the design phase and how upset those residents were that they were going to have a road with within feet of the homes that were owned in that area. One church and another person's home on John Young Parkway were going to suffer a serious negative impact by the construction of the road, but the commission understood then that there was a greater good involved with their desicsion.
At least that is what we all believed at the time. We all believed that the commission was pushing through the wave of upset residents because they understood the importance to our entire community that a good transportation network becomes. This is what they told "those people" who were in the audience protesting the location of the new road. Their concerns were not important in the grand scheme of our community.
Fast forward to today when the discussions of improving our transportation have become even more serious because of gas prices that have risen to record levels, and residents looking for public transportation alternatives. With all of this going on, most would have assumed that improving public transportation would be a priority with a commission that has already shown committment in this area. This time there seems to be a snag. There is a different group of people protesting this change so now the project is in jeopardy.
The question that should be asked is what are the differences in the projects? Both are improvments and both will benefit the entire city. After hearing remarks from some on the commission, we have to wonder if the only difference is the neighborhood and not the need.
The WayneWho staff believes that improvements in public transporation are not only necessary, but that they should also be a priority to our elected officials. Times, they are a changing, and we need to make sure we are changing with them.
5 comments:
The commission showed no concern for those of us who live by MLK. They passed this with out every giving other ideas consideration. They treated us like dirt when we came before them. It was an experience I never believed I would have living in this country.
The downtown people who are opposing ANY bus stop (not just the proposed Civic Center location) may be in for a rude awakening if they force transit out of downtown. If the bus hub goes somewhere else, and it turns out that the city doesn't (or can't) build a transit center, perhaps the commuter rail folks will decide that Osceola Parkway is "close enough" to Kissimmee, just like The Loop is.
If they are going to move the lynx terminal out of the downtown then they need to move the light rail station out of it as well. It does not make sense to pay for a downtown stop if there are no bus stops to move people around. That would be a waste of money.
If they are going to move the lynx terminal out of the downtown then they need to move the light rail station out of it as well. It does not make sense to pay for a downtown stop if there are no bus stops to move people around. That would be a waste of money.
THE #4 BUS IS THE MOST WIDELY USED AND PROFITABLE OF ALL THE LYNX ROUTES. THEY WOULD NOT "STOP" SERVING KISSIMMEE, THYE WOULD LOSE CITY AND COUNTY MONEY. WHILE I AGREE THAT I WOULD NOT LIKE TO LIVE CLOSE TO A HUB, I STILL FEEL THAT THE COMMISSIONERS, ALONG WITH COUNTY, COULD MAKE IT FEASABLE FOR LYNX TO GO TO THE LOOP. PROBLEM SOLVED, UNLESS I'M FORGETTING SOMETHING. NOPE. I DIDN'T.
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