With the impacts of climate change becoming clearer and given that our northside neighbors have endured decades of poor air quality and toxic pollutants, I would encourage the planning team to place environmental remediation and public health at the top of project goals. The stated goals seem rooted in the ages-old, paired grails of economic development and transportation. But the world has changed since these were our collective priorities, and I think the environment and personal health should take precedent.
First, I believe that planning should closely align with the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which requires us to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85% below 1990 levels by 2050. That is a huge drop, and we are not on the right path. I believe it would be a mistake—and possibly illegal per the CLCPA—to fill in the sunken Loop with dirt and to demolish the raised portion, expending enormous amounts of energy and emitting high amounts of greenhouse gases. A less-polluting plan could be a model for the state and nation in how to handle outdated urban infrastructure. We are blessed to have Bergmann’s own Jayme Breschard-Thomann on the Land Use and Local Government Advisory Panel of the state’s Climate Action Council, so perhaps this project could gain statewide attention and support.
Second, decades of intense vehicular traffic on the Inner Loop, the constant flow of freight trains on the rail line, and the concentration of polluting industries along the corridor (e.g., the coal fired BeeBee station and auto repair shops) harmed the people and land of the area. We have an opportunity to mitigate and reverse that damage given the scale of this project.
Third, I think it has become exceedingly difficult to argue in favor of new development land. The conditions that encouraged development of the Inner Loop East do not exist on the northside. The eastside contains the city’s most stable and attractive neighborhoods that have always enjoyed some of the highest levels of private investment in the region, whereas northside neighborhoods have been much the opposite. And the timing was right to fill in the eastern Loop, whereas now the economics of adding development space will be hard to square.
