A blog for better streets and public spaces in Portland, Maine.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Briefs for June's Green Streets Day

It's Green Streets Friday! Anyone walking, biking, carpooling, or taking transit today should sign in at portlandgreenstreets.org and reward yourself with freebies and discounts at participating local businesses.

Here are a few other things going on. Watch out for the whizzing bullets:

  • The Veranda Street bridge in East Deering is closed to cars, but not to bikes and pedestrians. The contractor has built a temporary bike/ped bridge, which is wheelchair accessible and wide enough for two people to pass abreast. Bicyclists should walk their bikes across, since the bridge's ramps make some tight turns.

  • Munjoy Hill residents are lobbying U Car Share for a new pod of vehicles for their neighborhood, according to the June Green Streets newsletter. Sarah Cushman reports that "If you live on the East End in Portland get your membership application fee waived for a limited time. Log in at www.ucarshare.com to sign up anduse this promotional code: MUNJOYHILL. If enough of East Enders join, the company will locate a car close by. For more information, contact Peter Alexander at 773-4606."

  • Last but not least, this editorial from today's Portland Press Herald, about some of the parking recommendations from the Peninsula Transit Study, is spot on. Its opening line: "Downtown real estate in Maine's largest city – its cultural and commercial center – is too valuable to be used to store cars." Read the whole thing, though - I couldn't have said it better myself.

1 comment:

Ellen said...

Infrastructure development is a universal concern for all Americans, but each community has unique problems and experiences with public spaces, roads, public transportation, schools, energy, and more. Share your story today at http://www.infrastructureusa.org, and join the national dialogue.