Ogden resident paints over curb in front of house in protest
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- An Ogden resident repainted the red-zoned curb near their house amid road construction on 20th Street.
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- An Ogden resident repainted the red-zoned curb near their house amid road construction on 20th Street.
OGDEN — When they’re in progress, road construction projects can inconvenience those who live and work where they’re happening, but the hope is always that the result will be a net positive for the people who use those thoroughfares.
For some residents living on 20th Street between Quincy Avenue and Harrison Boulevard, though, the recent road widening project there — including the creation of bicycle lanes — has wrought changes they feel will negatively impact them moving forward. One local, frustrated by the new parking restrictions and other impacts of construction, took an unorthodox approach to protesting the change.
“One day, I came home and, all of a sudden, I saw that the curb right in front of my house was painted red,” Ogden resident Andrea Baltazar told the Standard-Examiner. “I mean, how would you feel if you came home, having to deal with construction for the past few months, and seeing that right in front of your house, the curb is painted red and you can no longer park there?
“So, I took the initiative and painted my curb back.”
According to Baltazar, who said Monday that her curb had not yet been painted back over, the parking situation was already difficult in the area. Now, she says, it has become unmanageable for residents and their guests. More than that, though, she says that the owners of homes situated along the road itself are facing potential runoff problems amid the altered landscape and perhaps even reduced property values.
Baltazar further expressed concern about the manner in which information about the project was disseminated to those who would be impacted, as well as the public at large. She joined other residents in voicing those and other concerns during the Nov. 19 city council meeting.
Ogden City Communications Director Mike McBride told the Standard-Examiner that the improvements made on that stretch of 20th Street were done in accordance with the city’s transportation master plan (which is publicly available online) and noted that the construction included important updates to the road itself, as well as “the infrastructure below it,” (i.e. city sewage lines.)
Regarding the parking restrictions, McBride said that keeping everyone who uses the road safe was the priority.
“The width of that road does not allow for bike lanes to coexist with cars. It’s an engineering standard that has to be followed and it’s a life safety issue,” McBride said.
Where informing the public is concerned, McBride said that public meetings were held as recently as February, and that the project’s public involvement team put flyers on doors and also sent mailers and targeted emails.
As Baltazer sees it, though, the city did not make a good faith effort to relay information or protect its residents.
“The city may justify their decision by saying it’s for a bike lane, but that doesn’t address the real impact on homeowners. The decision the city made is permanent and simply citing their plans exist online or holding an open house — without clearly explaining how it would affect homeowners — is not justification,” she said.
“When you paint an entire block red and fail to explicitly inform residents that their street parking will be eliminated, impacting their ability to host loved ones and potentially reducing property values, that’s not just poor communication — it’s cruel. Planners preferring to meet behind closed doors to give an ‘explanation’ is dismissive and unacceptable. This lack of accountability and transparency needs to end. We need to hold them responsible and demand change, because without it, they will not act.”
