The photograph above harks back to 1952, when Allentown had it's priorities straight. In 1954, the new East Side Fire Station was completed. Now demolished, the East Side waits for it's replacement, along with other things. Dennis Pearson explains it well.
One year ago the East Side Fire Station closed and we are still counting the days before it is rebuilt but not holding our breath for if we hold our breath too long we would need an undertaker rather then a Paramedic or fireman. How long will it take for us to feel safe... And you know what none of our elected city councilman and woman and appointed councilman and women have ranted and raved over this issue.... Two signs have been placed on fence guarding the empty lot of the former fire station to tell the story. Happy 250th year Allentown but the East Side has an issue that needs to be resolved. And also, there have been road work signs on Hanover Avenue the past two weeks ,,, We ask is the work being performed by ghosts for we certainly see no work being performed. Dennis Pearson
In addition to the East Side being neglected and endangered, the South Side is isolated because of the 15th Street Bridge Project. That work is being done at a casual pace, inappropriate for the hardship it is creating. Schreibers stone arch bridge has been severely damaged once again, from endless two way traffic with no monitoring. While the
Transformational Hockey Arena receives most of the Mayor's attention, other problems are given band-aids. Opposition to selling one of our few remaining assets, the water system, rests with a few individuals and a couple of blogs. The share-owners in this city, the taxpaying property owners, need to assert themselves through their neighborhood crime groups. The perpetrator now is City Hall.
This seems to me to be an obvious public safety risk that needs to be addressed quickly. Traffic can cause choke points that will make it very difficult for fire trucks to arrive from farther away. In respect to the 15th Street bridge, I live near it and agree on the leisurely pace comment. I try to avoid schreibers bridge but drove over it yesterday morning and saw the new damage.
ReplyDeletethe state recently replaced two bridges close together out on tilghman, west of allentown, in the Chapmans area. although the project was slated for a year, they accelerated the work to minimize the hardship to both traffic and business. where is such pressure by the city?
ReplyDeleteOnly because you're including the 15th St. bridge in this entry, dare someone include an item that yet other serious accident occurred this past week along Lehigh Street feet from where the new distracting digital billboard is scheduled to be installed.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders what's happening to the Allentown Y's membership and bottom line as a result of the 15th St.
ReplyDeletebridge closing. Noticed Gold's Gym on Lehigh seems jammed one week after opening.
Maybe Parkway Manor residents will keep a scoreboard of how many small businesses close in the next six months. A major popular fast food site almost empty at dinnertime at Lehigh and S. 15th.
ReplyDeleteI drove over the parkway bridge off of Martin Luther King Blvd the other day to access 78, the condition of the bridge is appalling. It is in incredibly poor condition, either as the result of accidents or simply excessive wear and tear. Parts of the bridge are crumbling and I suspect it too will soon be closed to traffic due to deterioration and questionable safety.
ReplyDeleteWith the dearth of comprehensive data, readily available to the public, relative to developments in the city, my faith in the governing process of the city and it's stewards has waned considerably. In fact it has come to the point where I believe little of what is released to the public, especially through what appears to now be the primary PR representative for the city, The Morning Call.
The city's priorities in particular are indeed, in my opinion, convoluted. It seems increasingly apparent the current developments will benefit the few over the many. This is disheartening. Lip service is paid to the overall benefit to the community of the city of Allentown and the cookie cutter response seems to be these days, "It will be Good."
In the world of ASD, where I am an elected board member, every proposal brought before the bored these days seems to be be qualified in summation with the statement, "This is for the benefit of the kids". More and more I question if it really is.
David Fehr Zimmerman