Not In My Front Yard

This article was scraped from Rochester Subway. This is a blog about Rochester history and urbanism has not been published since 2017. The current owners are now publishing link spam which made me want to preserve this history.. The original article was published September 11, 2016 and can be found here.

     By       Mike Governale

When Andrea Chervenak received a letter earlier this year from the Town of Irondequoit notifying her that a sidewalk was being proposed for her street, she was thrilled. Unfortunately for Andrea, her neighbors' front lawns are more important than her children's safety. To hammer this nonsensical point home, some people even made lawn signs...

   Most of the streets in Irondequoit already have sidewalks, but     Oakridge Drive

is in a wooded section near Lakeshore and there is a gap in the existing sidewalk for about a one-mile stretch. Oakridge Drive is the only access in and out of this neighborhood. The sidewalk project was proposed by residents who argue that a sidewalk is necessary to keep children, walkers and bikers safe.

   West Irondequoit school district does not offer bus transportation for students beyond the 3rd grade. As parents of three children (ages 12, 9, and 4) Andrea does not feel comfortable allowing them to walk the 1.5 miles to school because they'd have to walk along the narrow and curvy road with no sidewalk.

   "Drivers rarely adhere to the 25 mph speed limit and the numerous bends of the road decrease visibility," Andrea explained in an email to RocSubway. "Everyday, I see commuters driving anywhere from 40-55 mph on our street. It's infuriating."

   To be fair, those who oppose the sidewalk have cited     numerous reasons

including possible conflict with underground septic systems, trees that would need to be removed, taxes that are already too high, and a general disbelief that cars really do speed on this street.

But as Andrea also points out, and I agree, providing safe passage for children to walk to school should be     the    priority for any community. Just try telling that to a guy and his magic marker.

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