Sidewalk Project #1 --- Bowling Av, Public Meeting July 26th, 2017

Trish Mixon and I have been advocating for a sidewalk on  Bowling Av from West End to Woodmont for almost 4 years.  We have held a public meeting, meet with numerous council people over the years, advocated with Public Works, had an landscape architectural firm draw plans, held an event called Pedestrian Paradise to highlight the need, made appeals to the PTO at West End Middle, sat every Saturday at a local Farmer's Market for a full summer, dabbled in fundraising (to help with moving of hardscapes) and completed a formal letter based survey of the 92 residents of Bowling Av.  Needless to say, we are THRILLED to have Council Member Kathleen Murphy take this project on.  This sidewalk is the key to walkability for this whole neighborhood - to allow walking to businesses on West End, for students to reach West End Middle, Elmington Park, and transit to mention just a few.  Currently, our area could be considered a sidewalk desert - see map below - as we have little to no options.  Bowling is marked 35mph but we all recognize it as a higher speed cut-through.  No one goes 35 & no one is expecting a pedestrian.  Here in lies the main issue.  Without a sidewalk, it is a major safety concern - many have stories of 'nearly being killed' trying to walk on Bowling.  We can do better.  There is another Public Meeting scheduled for July 26th, 2017 to discuss. Bowling Sidewalk Meeting

6:30 Wednesday, July 26th West End Middle School Auditorium 6:30 Sign in and Welcome 6:30 Presentation by Public Works of the Bowling Ave. Sidewalk Preliminary Design 6:45 Questions/Discussion   Please share this meeting information with neighbors! I do not have a digital version of the sidewalk design yet so make sure to attend this important meeting and show your support for this sidewalk!  The new sidewalk will overlap with some existing but not up to standard sidewalk.  It will go to Woodlawn and is a great first step for Bowling.  Public Works has taken great care to avoid our trees and rock/brick walls.  This sidewalk is vital to making our neighborhoods more pedestrian friendly!   Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns: kathleen@murphyformetro.com  or 615-422-7109