Last week I took my camera downtown and took pictures of the construction and deconstruction of downtown sidewalks. Construction workers seemed to be in a hurried pace or they were just afraid of the crazy lady taking pictures of them working. Maybe they thought I was a city inspector or company spy but whatever the case, they sure worked hard when the camera was pointing towards them. Actually, I think they really are working hard and I have no influence on them but…
New sidewalks and landscaping for downtown.
The angled parking on Main Street looked odd and I witnessed one woman back up her minivan after she honked her horn twice, I guess as a distress signal before backing up into a lane of traffic she couldn’t see. She also gave me a dirty look while I walked by. I’m not sure what that was about but maybe the stress of backing onto such a busy street overwhelmed her and she forgot how lovable I am.
Angled parking across from the Lincoln Square Theatre on Main Street.
Merchant Street was no more and I can’t say I miss it. It was looking tired before the backhoes got to work. It actually looked better as a dirt road than what I remembered. The plan is to have arches crossing each end of the street to signify its importance downtown. I just wish there were more shops to choose from because really only one side of Merchant Street has actual merchants. The other side is mostly residential.
Merchant Street, Downtown Decatur
One thing that irked me was the seemingly needless removal of so many healthy trees. All that remains are stumps scattered about downtown. The trees are being removed because of damage their roots have done to some sidewalks and the fact that they probably don’t fit into the new look. I’ve noticed heaved sidewalks in front of the Lincoln Theatre, though I don’t know if it was caused by the trees or just the freezing and thawing of old, shabby sidewalks or possibly zombies trying to escape from beneath. I say get rid of the zombies and keep the trees. If a tree is a hazard I don’t have a problem removing it but if it’s causing no harm, let it be. I did a visual inspection of the sidewalk and road near two large trees recently cut down (see below) and I didn’t see any damage to the pavement at all around them.
Large tree cut down across from Central Park. Notice the pavement and plant container have no cracks.
Too late to save this one too!
I’m sure the end result will be a great improvement over the old look. I hope it encourages new development and I think it will. I have a feeling the angled parking will probably be nixed eventually for parallel parking, which would put a dirty look on my face because I can’t parallel park to save my life but that’s ok. I’ll just find somewhere else to park.
Most of the construction should be done by the time the Decatur Celebration rolls around again in August, which will be great. I guess we’ll just have to get a big blue screen to drape over the Barnes parking garage and project a beautiful park on it, because unfortunately that hideous thing will still be there, mocking us. I think I’ll give it a dirty look when I walk by next time. I usually do.
Some more photos:
Poor guy was just trying to cross the street...
Even this looks better than the old Merchant Street.
Creepy hatches. I never walk on those things.
Did I ever tell you the joke about the chicken crossing the street? It got backed over in an angled parking spot...
