The death of another person on Mesa street near Cincinnati the other day was unnecessary. We grieve for her family and friends.
It seems that the area is a popular nighttime hangout.
The lady was struck at about 1:45 in the morning.
The El Paso Times published an article the other day and wrote:
TxDOT has a long-term proposal for a Mesa Street tunnel running from Glory Road to Robinson Avenue. Vehicle traffic would bypass the entertainment district and the current Mesa-Cincinnati roadway would be a pedestrian area above the tunnel.
The long-term project would cost about $500 million and on the most optimistic time line would not be ready for another five years, Wright said.
Mesa street is unfortunately the main alternate route that can be taken when I-10 is closed.
Creating the tunnel would result in the closure of Mesa for months if not years.
There are other solutions like not crossing Mesa, or the party people taking their business to other locations.
Closing Mesa is not one of them.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Drunks will still walk out into traffic to cross the street.
Walking in front of cars is TAUGHT at area grade and high schools and assuming the vehicles can see them, no matter the conditions (sun glare, weather. . .etc.) and stop for them.
The vehicles always wins (by sheer weight) and the person(s) lose, no matter their “Rights” told to them by the schools.
Now when these people get older and go out to bars, they get a little drunk and their high school habits kick in.
Just . . .Walk on as if you have “your rights” and the cars have to watch for you.
But, unfortunately, many drivers have ALSO been drinking at 1:00 AM.
Since deaths have happened way too many times near the Cincinnati entertainment district . . maybe they need to HIRE a crossing guard / policeperson, to control pedestrians crossing the streets.
That would not cost 500 million or close down streets.
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The CITY keeps promoting the Cincinnati entertainment district and letting it grow, even by adding a Giant Sign/ archway.
This should NOT BE so close to Fast Moving Traffic !
And especially with parking . . . ( to accommodate all of these bars groups together) across the street that has to be crossed.
And of course, the city is approving building permits for MORE bars all the time in that area, making it worse and worse.
Maybe they could use School Zone signs and change the speed limit from 10pm to 3 am to 5 MPH on N. Mesa Street.
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First, the city should not be promoting drinking. Period. Adults can drink, but that does not mean any municipality should encourage or endorse or subsidize this type of behavior.
Along that line, the city or state should not be spending $500 million to assist drinking, or in this case make it safer to walk around while drinking. This is ridiculous.
I bet, if anyone digs deeper, you will see that there is something else behind this project, just like the ballpark, trolley and brio lines. This tunnel would benefit some person or entity greatly.
This needs to stop.
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And, what do you think the failed downtown “Entertainment” District was all about, if not the City promoting a party atmosphere? I totally agree that we, the taxpayers, should never have to pay that kind of money for such a small, and comparatively insignificant Entertainment District, but we need to find a better way to get that point across than attacking in this manner.
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We could have concrete-reinforced steel pipes rise out of the street when the light turns red… that should get everyone’s attention… (just kidding).
The better choice would to be to put an up and over crossing bridge similar to those used to cross over Las Vegas Blvd. on the strip in Las Vegas. This could be paid for with a P.I.D. on those commercial properties that benefit in the area.
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First, to the person that mentioned that drunks will walk into traffic, the victim was in a crosswalk and had the signal in her favor. The hit and run driver was a drunk illegal alien who ran several red lights as he tango prisa’d his way home. He failed to stop and render aid, ditched the car and then asked his father to report the car stolen. We don’t need to be shutting down Mesa to build a tunnel to protect folks from guys like that. And one of the downsides of tunnel is that it makes it easy for criminals to hide and rob folks who have been drinking and are crossing later at night when there are less crowds. Folks tend to avoid tunnels in favor of surface crossings for that reason. So even with a tunnel we’d likely have vulnerable pedestrians. I agree that a stronger police presence might help. Folks who drive drunk like to avoid routes that are more heavily patrolled. Sadly not much is patrolled here anymore except the ballpark. And we need to go back to enforcing drinking and driving laws better.
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You are right about disappearing patroling…the Times report of the community meeting about this (hosted by Rep Svarzbein who has relentlessly promoted the Entertainment District) noted that the police in attendance said they just don’t have enough officers. But they had no trouble assigning multiple cars and motorcycles to protect the morning “Dog Parade” on Grant heading into Memorial Park the other day. It’s all about priorities (like protecting the fence in Duranguito with half-a-dozen officers ensuring that two old ladies don’t knock it over). Closing Mesa for tunnel (which would be for cars, not for pedestrians) would be a nightmare…the two parallel streets that are the only options for drivers to get through Kern Place have been turned into Trolley streets, and Stanton in particular has been reduced to almost no traffic capacity. Such great planning!
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Actually, I believe parade organizers pay for police protection as part of the permit process. I know those fees almost killed a parade in the NE. Perhaps the bar owners should pay for assigned officers or hire off duty officers as security for that district so it isn’t a taxpayer burden. The ballpark should definitely be paying for security but that got given away in the one-sided contract that many of us crazies protested long ago.
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That sounds like a good long-term solution. It could be combined with construction of a walkway above the street, and maybe a fence along that part of Mesa to essentially compel people to use the elevated walkway.
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The proposed tunnel would be for traffic and the pedestrians would be at the current street level. I, personally think this is overkill and a totally insane plan. The better choice would to be to put an up and over crossing bridge similar to those used to cross over Las Vegas Blvd. on the strip in Las Vegas. This could be paid for with a P.I.D. on those commercial properties that benefit in the area.
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So now we are expected to subsidize a bunch of bars with millions of dollars of infrastructure to protect drinkers? My parents were right; nothing good happens on the streets after midnight.
How about the bars use their profits to hire a private security patrol to sit on Mesa with flashing lights? Or how about all the bars in the Cincinnati district move to a safer location?
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So after all this time neither the City or TXDOT understands how water flows off the mountain or down Mesa Street ?
A tunnel/depressed road is the worst idea and will become a drowning pool every time it rains.
Seems like an elevated road over Cinncinati St would work better and would definitely be cheaper.
Or maybe just reroute traffic and close that section of Mesa on event and heavy party nights for certain set time periods like 10 pm to 6 am.
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Automatic speed bumps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmspM6sMBQ4
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That’s a great idea for North Mesa street.
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