Good, Bad and Ugly

First the good:
As I am reviewing the latest and greatest of FLATS long range transportation plan, I am constantly reminded of the great job our consultants have done with the analysis of urban Florence traffic. There is great detail (for a vision document) on how to think of a 'complete street' (Chapter 5, starting on page 5-69 ), financial constraints (we only have so many funds for FLATS, Chapter 10 page 10-6), and the initial approach to improve existing streets (Chapter 5 page 5-41) with medians, curbs and interconnections between businesses over the traditional - widen until you can widen any more! I also wanted to mention the fantastic public work ethic - we had a whole slew of residents and stakeholders whom met at public meetings as well as for advisory committees. Thank you, team!

the bad?
Yes, there is plenty of that in the document as well. Where are our sidewalks? How can we connect our rail trail to other parts of the urban area? When will Hoffmeyer Road be striped for bicycles? Can we get the traffic light timing on Irby Street correct? ...and don't even mention Five (six) Points and the location of the new downtown intermodal facility (one location where cars and bikes can park, buses are routed and trains stop)! There is a lot of work to do, and we are going to have fun doing it!

the Ugly.
Um, yeah - we have the ugly here in Florence. On more than one account by residents in public forums or blogs, the 76 corridor approaching downtown Florence from the airport is ugly. Other uglies also include a list of the worst crash rate intersections (above, from the County Comp Plan)

So, there's your brief rap up of one of the big projects we all have been working on - a good project that's a great direction to clean up the bad and ugly of Florence. Review the implementation plan; it's a quick read and lists what we could be proposing in the near future and many years down the road.

EPA's Clean Water Enforcement

The U.S. Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) is getting more and more serious about improving water quality and taking the steps necessary to keep Americans informed about the safety of their local waters. Before I give you the details on the EPA's most recent press release, here's a little background on The Clean Water Act (CWA):

The CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. Major amendments were enacted in the Clean Water Act of 1977and the Water Quality Act of 1987.

The CWA is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States. (The Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues.) The statute employs a variety of regulatory and nonregulatory tools to reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways, finance municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and manage polluted runoff.

Now about the press release! EPA recently launched new web tools to inform the public about Clean Water Enforcement. The interactive web tools allow the public to check water violations in their communites. The purpose of this set of web tools, data, and interactive maps is to inform the public about serious Clean Water Act violations in their communities. These web tools are part of EPA's Clean Water Act Action Plan to work with states in ensuring that facilities comply with standards that keep our water clean.

The new web page provides interactive information from EPA's 2008 Annual Noncompliance Report, which pertains to about 40,000 permitted Clean Water Act discharges across the country. It also makes it easy to compare states by compliance rates and enforcement actions taken and provides access to updated State Review Framework (SRF) reports.

We all know that clean water is vital to our health, to our environment, and to our economy. Failing to protect our lakes, rivers and streams leads to the loss of irreplaceable natural resources, destroys ecosystems and endangers species. When I have spare time, which seems to be less and less these days, I enjoy reading speeches by EPA's Administrator, Lisa P. Jackson. Check this site out when you get a chance.

Don't forget to take a look at the three links regarding EPA's press release. Lots of information and a little overwhelming, but makes you think..... what little things can I do on a daily basis to help?