Davisite logo
Davisite Banner. Left side the bicycle obelisk at 3rd and University. Right side the trellis at the entrance to the Arboretum.

<

>

Mace Mess: Update

MaceMess 7By Char Henwood

A lot happened at the meeting at the firehouse yesterday.

Mayor Lee, Council Member Frerichs and City staff got an earful from the El Macero and South Davis Community about the many problems with the recent Mace Blvd "improvements." After extended comments they looked quite crestfallen.

It appears that the City has completely folded and Mace will be restored.

What got the City off top dead center was citizen involvement in large numbers.  We will however need to continue to watch the City carefully to assure they follow through on their promises.  We are to send our ideas, corrections, and suggestions to pwweb@cityofdavis.com. The more thoughtful input the better at this point. Please remember to insist on 2 lanes in both directions

MaceMess 6The City plans to continue with the asphalting, but will not continue with the project except to deal with immediate safety issues, which they now agree do exist. With your suggestions, please ask the City to provide you a link to the plan diagrams for the existing mess and also demand that we all get a link to diagrams of the new plans before anything is installed.  

I have many yet to be answered questions including;

  • How long will it take to redesign this project? We don't want to wait another 10 years for a fix.
  • How well will City Hall listen to our communities suggestions on how to fix this mess?
  • Where will the funding come from? Are we going to go through all this sturm und drang and make suggestions, only to be told that the City can't afford it after all?   
  • Will the City Council be adding this issue to their agenda to formalize the promises they made at the Firehouse yesterday? 

We got their attention and I think we are winning!  Thank you SO much for your help!!

MaceMess 5

 

Posted by

davisite

on

in

Davisite logo

Did you enjoy reading this article? Then subscribe to the Davisite for free and never miss a post again.

Comments

5 responses to “Mace Mess: Update”

  1. Nancy Price

    Good news! But eternal vigilance is needed to be sure you get the best redesign necessary for the safety of all.
    And, maybe there should be a good review of the process that got to approval and this mess, so this does not happen again in elsewhere in town.

    Reply
  2. Ron O

    As I mentioned on the Vanguard, I have a couple of suggestions that might help “improve” things:
    1) We need a large, traffic-generating development on prime farmland on Mace, near Ikeda’s. That ought to help with traffic along Mace Boulevard, freeway frontage roads and access points, etc. Not to mention I-80, itself.
    2) We need to ensure that we never miss-out on SACOG funding for “improvements” such as the one described in this article.
    Interesting, that the article above states that the SACOG-funded improvements might be removed/modified. Really? Also, will SACOG fund the removal? 🙂

    Reply
  3. Bob

    Council members and city staff at the meeting may have been sympathetic and offered conciliatory comments. They can’t make any promises… until a council majority formally chooses to do so.
    This is an important distinction.
    Nevertheless, what did the participants believe to have been offered?

    Reply
  4. Matt Williams

    Bob, the Mayor and Council members Frerichs and Partida were crystal clear, as was meeting facilitator Judith MacBrine (who did a superb job), that the meeting was an information gathering one (as will the scheduled April 11th one). Solution ideas were gathered, but not until the May 15th meeting will any major solutions be put on the table.
    Minor solutions/enhancements will be implemented between now and May 15th. Those do not require Council approval.

    Reply
  5. Matt Williams

    This is not a City problem alone. The Mace Boulevard right of way is shared by the City and County. They will need to collaborate on any meaningful solution.
    To date, such collaboration on this project has been almost non-existent.

    Reply

Leave a reply to Matt Williams Cancel reply