Letter From Sue Klein On The Desire Streetcar Project

February 25, 2003

Mr. Ed Bayer
Capital Improvements, Regional Transit Authority
6700 Plaza Drive, New Orleans, LA 70127

RE: DESIRE STREETCAR PROJECT
Official Record Comments - French Quarter Citizens

Dear Ed,
First of all, thank you for allowing French Quarter Citizens comments to be accepted via email for the official DEIS record of this project. I was out of town for the last public hearing, so I appreciate this opportunity for submission. I will try to be brief, but concise. Here are the main points:

S.1 "A consensus of public opinion was reached at the conclusion of the MIS, resulting in the adoption of a Locally Preferred Alternative by the RTA Board of Commissioners."
We DISAGREE in the strongest terms. It had been almost three years since any French Quarter residential organization was notified that the consensus/public meetings had been reactivated. No one from the original meeting list was notified until the 12/11/02 Breakfast Briefing. Our City Councilperson Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson wasn't even notified and she publicly noted this from the podium (although this comment did not appear in the meeting minutes).
S.3.3.4 Text states "Option A would require less streetcar cars than Plan Bin the evening hours." This assumes that the downriver track would be in the French Quarter side of Rampart Street. Therefore, if the downriver track is located on the neutral ground, this statement would be invalid.
S.4.3 "Reliability of service is largely a function of the degree of exclusive right of way provided by the alternative. Exclusive rights of way remove transit operations from interference with traffic." This is another reason why both tracts should be on the neutral ground.
S.5 "The New Orleans Land Use Plan and Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance supports only residential-scale and residential mixed-use type development in the study area surrounding North Rampart Street and St. Claude Avenue." Agree
Table S5 Environmental Justice The Canal Street Streetcar Project construction had many consecutive intersections blocked which unnecessarily exacerbated the already negative impact on area traffic flow. Therefore, project management for Rampart Street should have a more traffic and neighborhood sensitive plan than the current plan on Canal Street.
Visual Quality and Aesthetics should comply with historic nature of the historic districts.
Water Resources notes that there will be "a temporary increase in erosion and sedimentation during construction" and "minimal impacts from increased run-off." Wouldn't this be significantly reduced if the river side of Rampart is left alone?
Historical and Archaeological Resources notes the "physical impact of a rail line within boundaries of district." This also supports the neutral ground downriver track location.
Safety and Security states that there would be "no impact" other than "improving emergency vehicle movement". We strongly disagree, unless the tracks are both on the neutral ground for various reasons. Not only for emergency medical, but also for fire (always a constant threat) and police. The FQ absorbs an inordinate amount of routine traffic, daily delivery vehicles, beer trucks, garbage trucks, (6 days/week), tow trucks, small buses, large buses with exception permits and a large percentage of evening downriver traffic on Burgundy (this is one of the reasons why the traffic statistics are skewed) and walking tours. Also, the major consecutive linear pedestrian traffic is on the river side of Rampart. Finally, we don't see any comments from the police and fire departments of this.
S.7.2.2 Discusses the track arrangements. We do not support any track location within North Rampart Street on the river side. We suggest that both tracks be located on the neutral ground (with additional width allocated from the lake side of Rampart) and extending to one block of South Rampart. See conclusion.
S.8 Describes the "ongoing community and stakeholder participation and coordination program conducted during the PE/EIS." To further quote the DIES statement "A DEIS that addresses the full range of alternatives and issues important to the selection of the LPA can be accomplished only in consultation with all those who have a stake in that decision. The primary tool for organizing and coordinating community and stakeholder participation is the Public Involvement Plan (PIP)." Therefore, it appears this stated requirement was not in compliance for over two years, since French Quarter residents who attended the initial public hearings over two years ago were not notified of any of the subsequent meetings/hearings until the 12/11/02 Breakfast Briefing. And then, only one organization was notified and the residents had to spread the word. As stated earlier, Councilperson Clarkson wasn't even notified of the 12/11/02 meeting, but had to be informed by the residents.

CONCLUSION
Our second best choice of track location would be to place the down river track on the neutral ground and the upriver track on the lake side of Rampart Street. We believe the traffic statistics as stated in the DEIS are skewed because of the location of the counters. Also, down river evening Rampart traffic bleeds off to Burgundy Street in an effort to avoid the buses and traffic lights. This is an additional burden to French Quarter congestion that backs up to Canal Street and the DDD.
Therefore, French Quarter Citizens puts forward that the best track location would be the placement of both up and down river tracks on the neutral ground running from Esplanade up to the 200 block of South Rampart for the following reasons. It would eliminate the least amount of parking spaces on that corridor, it would decrease the vehicular and pedestrian traffic on the downriver side of Canal Street, it would eliminate the use of Basin Street for the track loop (saving the Saenger and William B. Allen freight zones), it would eliminate the Toulouse leg (saving additional congestion of the main I-10 artery into the French Quarter), it would improve traffic flow, it would be the most effective in enhancing the Mayor's economic development efforts to revitalize North and South Rampart, it would lessen the infringement of a "mechanical wall" along one perimeter of the French Quarter, it would maximize safety for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, it would minimize the additional intrusive noise and vibration factors on the historic district, and it would be the most historically accurate. Also, as we were told, it is not too late in this projects process to implement dual neutral ground tracks for up and downriver flow.

Sincerely,
Susan Klein
Desire Streetcar Project Chairman
French Quarter Citizens