Removing the rest of the Rockford downtown mall
August 1st, 2008 at 11:59am Chuck Sweeny
OK, the city of Excellence Everywhere’s grand poobahs of planning have decided that the Main Street pedestrian mall shall go away , to be replaced by a two-lane street from Green to Park. Two-way or one-way? For years I’ve said that Main should be a two way all the way, and that the grotesque “sculpture” of Blake, Lemon and Kent should be melted down for scrap so Main can become Illinois 2 again. Hey, I’m not a planner, just a very frustrated motorist who is required to be downtown five days a week because I work here.
The only question is, when will the tortoise-speed lifers at City Hall make this happen? I’d like to know what you think. Before the 09 election? Or will it happen at about the same time the commuter or Amtrak train arrives — a date that, no matter when you ask, is always five years away.
Entry Filed under: Downtown Mall
4 Comments Add your own
1. the.dude.abides.man@gmail.com | August 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Two way.
…but it still won’t help with Rockford’s laziness problem — most of the complaints I’ve seen about downtown are that “there isn’t any parking” — which is false.
Their problem is that you can’t park directly in front of your destination, and you must actually use your legs to do what old people used to call “walking.” God forbid you have to walk two blocks from your car to get to the RSO.
2. Harley Lowrider | August 5th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Why remove it Now ? The damage is already done to downtown.
3. Jason | August 5th, 2008 at 11:39 am
who wants to leave your car that far away , you might not make it back without being robbed or haresst… Or your car just vandilezed way to many scum bags down there. yes i go down their and they are there
4. Swede | August 8th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I think that if they aren’t going to keep it up, or refurbish it, then move forward with the street project.
It has the potential to be a cool place, it just isn’t getting the attention that it could. Plus, there is a stigma associated with the area, whether deserved, or not, so, a lot of people won’t go down there anyway. Especially at night.
Either clean it up, and do something nice with it, or, level it.
That’s my opinion.
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