A New Vision for Roosevelt Park Led by Community Stakeholders

[royce]

In a story Friday on Curbed.com, the story talks about the Corktown/Mexicantown communities bringing to city planners proposals for re-imagining Roosevelt Park. The three proposals are interesting but still don't seem to logically address an issue I've had with the configuration of Vernor Highway through the the park.

As you travel from Mexicantown into Corktown, there's never an issue from where you are coming from and where you are going. You travel along Vernor Highway until it ends at Michigan and 14th streets. However, if you want to get to Mexicantown, travelling along Vernor is not that easy. First, there's no left turn from the Michigan Avenue/14th Street intersection that gets you onto Vernor. That's because the southbound lanes of Vernor aren't in alignment with the northbound lanes of Vernor. If the northbound lanes and the southbound lanes were side-by-side, then turning left onto Vernor from Michigan Avenue wouldn't be a problem. Therefore, closing the southbound lanes would make more room for the park. Currently, you have to be in the know to know that to get to Vernor from Michigan Avernue you have to turn left onto 16th Street.

Two of the three plans to re-imagine Roosevelt Park have Vernor rerouted to 14th Street heading north. That gives the park more room but it still doesn't address a simple way to get to Vernor heading south. These two plans still have travelers travelling along 16th Street to get Vernor heading south. Why not make Vernor a two-way at 14th so that you could avoid having to travel to 16th Street? Also, in these two plans, there are two awkward turns along 16th Street that you have to take to get to southbound Vernor. Very confusing. Now, the third plan has travelers turning onto lanes that head south along Vernor but the plan cuts the park in half.

For visitors/tourists, it would be easier to get to southbound Vernor by being able to turn on Vernor/14th Street from Michigan Avenue at the intersection where these three streets currently intersect. Why have travelers guess how to get to southbound Vernor?