Not to be out done by the Los Angeles City Council, Temple City's officials have decided to plan a little "carmageddon" of their own. I doubt you will hear a thing about it on the evening news.
What they have in mind is the continued revamping of another two mile section of one of the most traveled street arteries in the valley, Rosemead Boulevard. Their grand vision is to create a draw to the existing businesses in the area and attract more businesses to fill the empty store fronts. They think this can be achieved by installing some new street lights, bike lanes, and foliage in the medians. Bike lanes? Really?
Granted, this is still in the planning stages and will require some serious funding, but it appears to be on the fast track so it does warrant our attention and concern, especially if you drive. Personally I remain doubtful that it will make its projected 2012 start date.
Why? Well for those of you who live in the SGV and are familiar with the speed of construction around here, you know what I mean. If you don't, may I direct your attention to two of our valley's most recent abominations.
First is Rosemead Boulevard's current road construction going on between Huntington Drive to just south of Duarte Road at Callita Street. TC's new planned construction is to start where this construction stops and go to just north of Lower Azusa Road. Just as a little reminder, this project started in 2008 at Foothill Boulevard and has worked its way South down Rosemead to its current location like an arthritic turtle and still isn't anywhere near being finished.
I find it hard to remember a time when I even thought to use Rosemead as my first choice as a viable route. I avoid the entire area, the street and businesses, like it's radioactive. Which is what I'm sure will be happening during this proposed new construction.
Second is the legendary corner at Rosemead Boulevard and Las Tunas Drive that has been nothing but a dirt lot for the last six years since tearing down a working multiplex movie theatre.
The problems I have with this new "vision" proposed by TC's officials begins with that corner. City officials, please don't take this the wrong way, but FINISH THE DAMNED CORNER FIRST! New street lights or flowery medians that will make it more difficult to make left turns on Rosemead will not attract new people. It will just irritate the ones that have to navigate through it.
If you want to attract new businesses and patrons to the area give them a reason to want to be here. Your current scaled down version for the corner is absolutely ludicrous. Office spaces, a couple of restaurants, and a "major retailer", all to be named later, are not what anyone would call a draw and certainly not as much of a draw as a movie theatre would be.
We, the citizens of the San Gabriel Valley, all get it. You are trying to take the easy way out and throw whatever you can get in there so you don't have to hear about it anymore, but your legacy will stand every time we drive by that corner on our way to shop or eat in another town after going to a movie.
Now that Cathe Wilson has done her Fred Sanford impersonation for the court and been shuttled off to the gray bar hotel you guys are fresh out of excuses for not wrapping that thing up. Even though the current council in Temple City isn't responsible for the bad reputation they inherited, the stench of that last council hasn't exactly left the air yet. You can always get a good whiff of it when driving by the corner of Rosemead and Las Tunas .
So if you want all of us to forget about the follies of councils past you need to exhibit some logic in your actions now. The old council will get the blame for tearing down the theatre, but you guys will carry the weight for not replacing it. Get your priorities straight and take care of the old problem before taking on a new one.
Just like the old adage says, "Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it." No wait, let's make that "Forget the damned street lights and finish the corner first!"
Yeah that's more like it.
