Mahncke Park Neighborhood

Eleanor Street Contruction: A Neighborhood Meeting

Aug 28, 2004

A neighborhood meeting was held at Wesley park on Monday, August 23, 2004 between concerned neighbors, including some members of the MPNA board, the City, and representatives from the company in charge of re-building Eleanor street.

The good news is that the date for construction ending on Eleanor, according to Tim White, the City's liaison between construction entities, the public, and the City, is December of this year, barring any further weather delays.

But, a major concern of residents is the installation of retaining walls around the pocket park at Wesley and Eleanor. It was explained by Tim White that retaining walls were needed around the park in order to maintain the integrity of the landscaping, including large trees. A slope of 4:1 (four feet across for every foot down) would be needed to handle erosion if there were no retaining walls. With the trees on the property, and the new proximity of the street, grading of the property would be damaging to the root systems. A retaining wall will not surround the entire park. Rather, it will taper from curb height at about midway on the Eleanor side of the north edge of the park to about 1'3" at Wesley (see picture, courtesy of T.Trost). It will carry that height, with variations, along Wesley and will narrow again to curb height after the retaining wall rounds onto the east-bound one-way portion of Eleanor on the south end of the park. According to the City inspector, Richard Montez, and the blueprints on hand, there will be no handicap-access ramp at any part of the park, despite any concerns about the Americans with Disabilities Act mandates. Neighbors asked if a more aesthetically pleasing facade could be placed on the wall, such as rock. According to Tim White, such was possible and, with this request, even likely. He'd be forthcoming to the neighborhood with what could be done.

Another concern connected with the installation of retaining walls was the deeper grading of Eleanor. It was explained that the deeper grading at Eleanor and Wesley was necessary in order to conform to the "geometry of the street," according to a representative of the construction company, Don White. Because of the deeper grade that was necessary on upper Eleanor, which was done to manage the minor property flooding some residents there were experiencing (due to the layers of asphalt paving over the years which negated any significant height of the previous curb there), the lower part of Eleanor had to be deeper than it was previously. This deeper grade, according to the presenters, will safely provide for one smooth and continuous path for water to flow down to the drainage openings on both Eleanor and Ira@Margaret. These drainage openings are to City code, the standard considered as adequate to handle "a 25-year flood."

The curve of Eleanor street near the east end of Wesley park will be "shaved" on the north side, slightly straightening out the current bend of the road, in order to provide for a safer flow for traffic. This will considerably narrow, if not completely eliminate, the 4-foot green space between sidewalk and curb only in that area. The rest of the sidewalks in the residential areas will maintain the neighborhood's traditional 4-foot buffer. The previous yellow parking-lot stops at the eastern tip of the park will be replaced with white striping and reflectors.

There was also concern expressed by some residents of construction workers bleeding residential water lines for extended periods of time after the water lines were worked on. Richard Montez stated that he'd look into it.

Finally, according to a construction representative, Eleanor isn't being narrowed or widened. It will be, according to them, 28 feet wide. However, when measurements were made at the meeting by residents, it was 27 feet wide. The representative said that they would address the situation the next day.