The Pocket Problem

Today is Tuesday, July 19, 2011. It promises to be another cool, foggy morning in Martinez, as this bizarre summer rolls on. The sojourners are back from their Saturday trip to Livermore and Lodi, and from all accounts, there were lessons learned from those two cities that can be applied to our own. One of those lessons, apparently, was the prominence of “pockets” in Livermore. Those are the protrusions from the sidewalks into the street that allow for outdoor dining, and they can be seen on our own 500 block of Main Street. Back in 1999, a group of volunteers led by Dick Duncan installed a series of pockets in an attempt to attract attention to the 500 block, which was then struggling to be seen – jurors didn’t walk that far down the street for lunch or shopping. So the pockets and the planters went in, and worked like a charm for the next 13 years. Now, the city wants to pave that section of Main Street, but it can’t until the pockets are either removed or replaced. Mayor Rob Schroder has said that returning that portion of Main Street back to a two-way street is a City Council priority. There are also engineering and insurance issues – the present pockets were temporary, and never meant to last this long. And if someone gets hurt while sidewalk dining, the city is presently responsible. The merchants on the block are adamant about retaining the one-way street, and making sure the existing pockets are replaced in any project. It’s an interesting dilemma, because there is no doubt that the pockets have done what they were intended to do – the 500 block is the model for the rest of the street. It has an ambience, a little extra charm, that the rest of Main Street could benefit from. Instead, the city wants to return the 500 block to mirror the rest of Main Street. Interesting. Hopefully, the merchants will be able to make their case and convince the council to keep the planters, the pockets, and the money flowing. After all, the question keeps getting asked, if it’s working, why fix it?

WEATHER:

Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming sunny. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the mid 80s. West winds 5 to 15 mph.

MEETINGS:

Tonight – the Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission meets at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 525 Henrietta St. The commission will hear updates on the Measure H park improvements, the opening of the Aqautic Center on July 23, and a plan for shade structures at the bocce courts.

Tomorrow – the City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 525 Henrietta St. The council will consider the proposal, a plan to construct up to 110 homes on 72 acres of land in the Alhambra Hills.

EVENTS:

TODAY IN HISTORY (Wikipedia):

64 - Great Fire of Rome: a fire begins to burn in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control. According to a popular, but untrue legend, Nero fiddled as the city burned.

1848 - Women's rights: a two-day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York; there the "Bloomers" are introduced.

1979 - The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua.

1997 - The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumes a ceasefire to end their 25-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.