Hello all,

I just wanted to let everyone know that I brought up my proposed
resolutions (I'll paste the text in below) during the "new business"
phase of the Faculty Council meeting today.  I was hoping the Council
would take immediate action, especially on the first resolution
regarding Fifth Street, but instead it was tabled by voice vote until
the next meeting (in two weeks, 2/21) when the City of Chattanooga
traffic engineer will be invited to attend.  So at least some action is
being taken; I just hope that no one gets hurt on Fifth between now and
then.  The second resolution also never came up for a vote, but after
some discussion Vice Chancellor Richard Brown said he would request a
public hearing for the campus to provide input regarding the issue of
McCallie/Bailey/MLK.  Hopefully it will be held at a time and place that
will facilitate significant participation by faculty, staff, and students.

Joe Dumas
(text of proposed resolutions follows:)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed resolution 1:

Whereas ...
.    Fifth Street next to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
      campus was reconfigured during Fall 2001 to include a bicycle/bus
      lane without the benefit of input from the faculty, staff, or
      students of the University
.    There is an insufficient volume of bicycle and/or bus traffic to
      justify the existence of this lane
.    The bicycle/bus lane is too narrow to safely contain many of the
      shuttle buses in use on the bus route serving campus, thus causing
      them to unsafely overlap the normal eastbound travel lane
.    The addition of the bicycle/bus lane in the existing roadway has
      caused the remaining two travel lanes to be significantly narrowed,
      thus reducing the margin of safety for drivers and pedestrians
.    The bicycle/bus lane is erroneously seen by many drivers as a
      high-speed passing lane, leading to extremely hazardous conditions
      for drivers and pedestrians on Fifth Street
.    These unsafe conditions are likely to contribute to accidents
      involving severe injury or death, with a huge potential for legal
      liability on the part of the University and the City of Chattanooga
      ...

We, the Faculty Council of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
request that the University administration and the City of Chattanooga
take steps immediately to restore Fifth Street to its previous two-lane
configuration.

Proposed resolution 2:

Whereas ...
.    McCallie Avenue and Bailey Avenue/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
      are important traffic arteries used every day by the faculty,
      staff, and students of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
      as well as many other residents of Chattanooga and surrounding
      communities
.    The above-mentioned streets are presently configured as four-lane,
      one-way streets for efficient movement of traffic in and out of the
      downtown Chattanooga area, including the University
.    It has been proposed that these streets be reconfigured as two-way
      streets with two lanes of traffic in each direction
.    The proposed reconfiguration into two-way streets is likely to
      cause traffic congestion and significantly reduce the ability of
      McCallie Avenue and Bailey Avenue/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
      to efficiently carry traffic into and out of the downtown area
.    The proposed reconfiguration is also likely to reduce the safety of
      UTC students, faculty, and staff and other pedestrians crossing the
      above-mentioned streets since they would have to contend with
      traffic coming from two directions rather than one
.    The proposed reconfiguration would involve a significant cost to
      taxpayers and significant inconvenience to motorists during and
      after the period of construction
.    Any benefits to area businesses from the proposed reconfiguration
      are likely to be minimal ...

We, the Faculty Council of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
request that the City of Chattanooga leave McCallie Avenue and Bailey
Avenue/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in their current one-way
configurations, and that the University administration join us in
opposing any changes to the current configuration of those streets other
than the possible addition of above- or below-grade pedestrian crossings.