Apologies for the March 1st Meeting

Submitted by BmoreCityDOT t3_11gjtay in baltimore

To all Attendees, Civic Organizations, Elected Officials, and Private Residents who attended last night’s 28th Street Multimodal Connection Concepts Public Meeting.

We Apologize.

We understand that the time you take out of your day to attend a public meeting is time away from your friends, family, and professional obligations and that time is sacred. We want to sincerely apologize to the participants for the level of service they received and those who did not receive an adequate response to their questions and concerns.

At the BCDOT, we have traffic engineers and policy professionals, and the line between technical and too technical is often blurred. The goal is and should always be clarity and comprehension. Without that, it is very much a one-sided conversation. This was an opportunity to show the people who care most about this project, the progress the agency has made, however, we regret we did not rise to that occasion. We need to build trust, and can’t do that without complete transparency, especially when we screw up.

So, What Happened?

Many People Were Not Heard!

* We had many technical difficulties and the meeting was cut short. This resulted understandably in many people feeling confused, frustrated, and upset. While technical difficulties happen, we could have communicated about the issues on the call and managed them better.

* We are reviewing our public meeting settings, staffing, and software options to avoid this moving forward. You deserve a more streamlined experience and we will make it happen.

* There were pressing questions about meeting grant deadlines and the opportunity for specific people to speak.

* We are meeting these questions head-on

* We are dedicating multiple staff to addressing comments, questions, and concerns that were raised during the public meeting itself or will be submitted in the form below for the official open comment period. These questions will receive the diligence and respect they deserve.

On the Public Comment Period:

* Residents wanted to know why the comment period would start next week instead of immediately. We heard your feedback and corrected this. All comments on the preferred option can be submitted HERE. https://streetsofbaltimore.com/embeds/projects/19290/survey-tools/15981

* The Presentation is available with the traffic-related options and we have engineers on stand-by to answer questions if you need clarification before submitting a preferred option, you can contact them here: DOT-Community@baltimorecity.gov

The goal was to present all traffic options clearly, troubleshoot live questions about those options, and answer outstanding concerns. An iterative deliberative process is the only way to ensure the options are representative of the diversity of the people and organizations who have been partners in this process.

We are sorry we haven’t been a better partner and understand the urgency of the moment. Thank you for showing up, and speaking up. Updates on the meeting and the project status can be found on this page. https://streetsofbaltimore.com/28th-street-multimodal-connection-concepts-2

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Comments

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bmore t1_jap65e7 wrote

>We want to sincerely apologize to the participants for the level of service

Kidding aside it's good to see this owned up to. I hope the department makes this right by delivering a project consistent with the community's grant so the money isn't lost, as it sounds like that's at risk.

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spaceribs t1_jap7agr wrote

yep, this is by far my #1 biggest fear, please don't let this funding lapse!

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Zestyclose-Mud4621 t1_jap5vi2 wrote

Please change the survey to not have a double negative, as this is very confusing!

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monkeycat909 t1_jar61fx wrote

Remington resident and attendee of the meeting. I appreciate the apology. However, I would more greatly appreciate a prompt commitment to making sure this project happens before the window for the grant funding closes.

It would also be a more meaningful apology if it were followed up with DOT taking GRIA's neighborhood-wide requests for traffic calming seriously. We have significant problems with speeding and reckless driving on side/residential streets as well, especially in South Remington. It's frustrating to see more well-off streets like Cresmont receive speed humps while less well-off residential streets in South Remington get ignored, despite multiple serious recent accidents like cars flipping upside down and out-of-control vehicles crashing into houses.

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ADE-651 t1_jareynj wrote

Agreed. It’s mayhem out there. I might add that level-of-service definitions from last century that only consider cars are a really bad look.

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BmoreCityDOT OP t1_jaswm3z wrote

Absolutely. In addition the apology, we'll also be reaching out to the organizations involved to figure out next steps, and have opened the comment period up on the website early (top right corner): https://streetsofbaltimore.com/28th-street-multimodal-connection-concepts-2

Absolutely. In addition to the apology, we'll also be reaching out to the organizations involved to figure out the next steps, and we have opened the comment period up on the website early: early: y:

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ADE-651 t1_jar0w18 wrote

Remington resident, former pedestrian casualty and meeting attendee here. Thank you very much for this! It goes a long way towards getting BCDOT on a more productive footing with our community so we can get this done.

The opportunity to connect Reservoir Hill to the rest of the city in a way that is navigable without a car is transformative and would be a huge win.

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dirtybroke t1_jb6f9yd wrote

The city’s level of engagement on this platform is one of many things I miss about Baltimore. If only my current gig were fully remote…

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