Costco construction to the left of us, SELA to the right

NorthWest Carrollton is centrally located... and that's good.

But the Construction at Carrollton and Palmetto to improve the streetscape....
is going to be fun for the next few months.  Thank goodness they waited until school was out before kicking it up a notch.  Check out Uptown Messenger for details.
http://uptownmessenger.com/2013/05/south-carrollton-lane-closures-construction-schedule-announced-for-streetscape-project-around-costco-site/

And then there is the ongoing construction on Claiborne for the SELA drainage project that will bring more water to the Monticello Canal.  

And the construction on Broadway........

Be careful out there folks.

THANK YOU for the TREES on Earhart

Thank You Parks & Parkways!!! and Ann McDonald

During the week of March 11, 2013, the Department of Parks and Parkways completed implementation of Phase I of the Earhart Boulevard planting plan. Phase I included 30 Live Oaks and 12 Natchez Crape Myrtles on Earhart Boulevard from Hamilton Street to Short Street.  All of the newly installed trees are on a one year watering schedule.

Phase II will include infill plantings of Natchez Crape Myrtles where space allows from Hamilton Street to Jefferson Davis Parkway. During Phase II, additional live oak trees will be installed between Short Street and Jefferson Davis Parkway where space permits. Phase II is anticipated to commence in late 2013 or early 2014.

A little history below:

In addition to working with Public Works on the redesign of Earhart to ensure that it did not expand to 6 lanes, NorthWest Carrollton also lobbied for trees.

Communication from May 2011

From: NorthWest Carrollton <nwcarrollton@mindspring.com> 

To: Ann McDonald - Parkway & Parks <amcdonald@nola.gov>, Jeanne Parkway Partners <jalbrecht@parkwaypartnersnola.org>, Hike For KaTREEna - info <info@hikeforkatreena.com>, katrina badger <kebadger@nola.gov>

Subject: Trees for Earhart BOULEVARD

Date: Oct 4, 2011 10:23 AM

All: NorthWest Carrollton, and I'm sure many others, are excited to see the construction on Earhart finishing up. We are waiting for the final cleanup, sanding and grass cutting of the neutral ground. We would like to know how we can work with Parkway & Parks, Parkway Partners, Hike for Katrina and any other to plant the largest trees possible down Earhart BOULEVARD. The NorthWest Carrollton Board would like to meet with representatives from all 3 groups together or separately to determine how we "green" this boulevard. Katrina: anything that ONE can do to help facilitate this is most apprecitated. Sincerly & Thanks, The Board of NorthWest Carrollton Jenel Hazlett Scott Andrews Debi Theobald Kim Carver Tom Pyburn Margaret Reinhart

Communication from May 2012

From: NorthWest Carrollton [mailto:nwcarrollton@mindspring.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:35 PM To: Jennifer E. Ruley; Stacy Head; Ann McDonald - Parkway & Parks; Enrico J. Sterling Subject: Trees on Earhart Dear City of New Orleans, We are not sure what city funding source allowed the large crepe myrtles to be planted along Earhart after the new construction completed. But we are very grateful for them. Today as one our Board members drove by they noticed that the leaves looked parched. PLEASE since the dollars have already been spent to place these trees could the city please keep them watered. This is their first summer and we all know that is when transplants are most susceptible to loss. Sincerely, The Board of NorthWest Carrollton  Communication from December 2012 From: NorthWest Carrollton <nwcarrollton@mindspring.com> To: "Susan G. Guidry" <sgguidry@nola.gov>, "'sburley@parkwaypartnersnola.org'" <sburley@parkwaypartnersnola.org>, "'info@parkwaypartnersnola.org'" <info@parkwaypartnersnola.org>, Stacy Head <SHead@nola.gov>, "'info@hikeforkatreena.com'" <info@hikeforkatreena.com> Cc: "Ann E. Macdonald" <aemacdonald@nola.gov> Subject: Re: Releaf Earhart Date: Dec 7, 2012 10:46 AM Thank you all for your response.... please keep us in the loop as plans progress. We will do what we can to help assemble volunteers to assist with planting. We asked because we know that this time of year is the optimal tree planting time. -----Original Message----- From: "Susan G. Guidry" Sent: Dec 6, 2012 2:28 PM To: "'sburley@parkwaypartnersnola.org'" , "'nwcarrollton@mindspring.com'" , "'info@parkwaypartnersnola.org'" , Stacy Head , "'info@hikeforkatreena.com'" Cc: "Ann E. Macdonald" Subject: Re: Releaf Earhart Thanks, Susannah. Please coordinate with Ann and Connie. Looks like we have the start of something good! Susan Susan G. Guidry New Orleans Councilmember, District A (504) 658-1010 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (504) 658-1010 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting Sent from my Blackberry wireless device. From: Susannah Burley [mailto:sburley@parkwaypartnersnola.org] Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2012 02:17 PM To: Susan G. Guidry; 'NorthWest Carrollton' <nwcarrollton@mindspring.com>; info@parkwaypartnersnola.org <info@parkwaypartnersnola.org>; Stacy Head; 'Hike For KaTREEna - info' <info@hikeforkatreena.com> Cc: Ann E. Macdonald Subject: RE: Releaf Earhart Hello All, We have worked with NorthWest Carrollton before on several project, and would be happy to do so again. Best regards, Susannah Burley Parkway Partners Program Director|Urban Gardens, Schoolyard Gardens, ReLeaf 1137 Baronne Street, New Orleans, LA 70113 504 620 2224 office sburley@parkwaypartnersnola.org; www.parkwaypartnersnola.org 30 Years ... And All Grown Up! From: Susan G. Guidry [mailto:sgguidry@nola.gov] Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2012 1:31 PM To: NorthWest Carrollton; info@parkwaypartnersnola.org; Stacy Head; Hike For KaTREEna - info Cc: Ann E. Macdonald Subject: RE: Releaf Earhart  Board, Ann McDonald and Connie Uddo have graciously agreed to put their heads together, after which I will get with them to see what can be accomplished. We will let you know when we have information. Regards, Susan Susan G. Guidry New Orleans City Council District A (504) 658-1010 sgguidry@nola.gov From: NorthWest Carrollton [nwcarrollton@mindspring.com] Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 12:34 PM To: info@parkwaypartnersnola.org; Stacy Head; Hike For KaTREEna - info; Susan G. Guidry Subject: Releaf Earhart Greeting all; NorthWest Carrollton is very interested in determining what can be done to increase the tree cover on the recently repaved section of Earhart from the Jefferson Parish Line to Pine . We know there is a ReLeaf Program http://parkwaypartnersnola.org/?page_id=11 and that many section of many larger streets have been "reforested". We would specifically like for the section of Earhart from the Jefferson Parish Line to Carrollton to be seriously considered for a planting/replanting program. We would appreciate any assistance or guidance that you have to offer. Sincerely, The Board of NorthWest Carrollton

Bubble Gum Factory

http://ourhousestories.com/american-chicle-company-factory/

Our House Stories asked if we had any buildings that they could do research on and we asked about our beloved Bubble Gum Factory and this is their Wonderful Response about the American Chicle Company in New Orleans which had a surprisingly brief life .  The building was constructed in 1911. At its height, the company operated factories in 10 cities and proclaimed, "It is not unusual for shipments to be made to Siberia, Alaska, Hong Kong, and the Samoan Islands."

In the fall of 1900, the American Chicle Company announced their intentions to establish a factory in either New Orleans or Atlanta. Wishing to take direct advantage of the opportunity, a cadre of New Orleans businessmen, sponsored by the Board of Trade, dispatched a letter to the New York chewing gum concern. A Board of Trade committee made the case for New Orleans, arguing not only for the economic and geographic advantages the city offered but stating as well,
"...the unequaled advantage of her mild climate, rendering the cost of living for laborers lower, since they need less clothing, less food and slighter dwellings than in more northern cities, and the further fact that real estate is very low...combine to make this an ideal point for the manufacture of your product" [Daily Picayune, October 11, 1900].

Advertisement for Adams Pepsin Gum, an American Chicle Company product, 1917

The wheels of industry turned slowly, however.  Despite the glowing recommendation from the Board of Trade (read: "We'll do anything...and our workers will subsist on next to nothing"), the company focused its resources on other markets before securing the benefits of the port of New Orleans.  An ad from 1912 lists the locations of six factories the company had opened since its founding in 1899.  It seems that markets in the east and midwest captured the company's attention before the south.
Another decade passed before American Chicle secured a building permit for their 3-story New Orleans factory, built at an estimated cost of $50,000 [Daily Picayune, December 3, 1910].  The factory employed 300-400 people, a number that does not include the uncounted hundreds who contributed to chicle production - from the Mexican chicleros who harvested the raw chicle, to sailors, dock workers, and draymen in New Orleans who loaded, unloaded, and transported the chicle to the factory.  The operation culminated in New Orleans in the state-of-the-art factory pictured below.

When the factory opened for business, the community boasted, "In the building this year of the factory of the American Chicle Company, on a block of ground at Fig and Dante Streets, above Carrollton Avenue, a large institution was added to the city.  The building itself is attractive and a point of interest" [Daily Picayune, September 1, 1911].

Orleans Parish Factory Inspector Martha D. Gould stands at far right, March 1914. Image: KnowLa.org and LoC.gov.

 

 

The satisfaction of business leaders filtered slowly to the workers.  According to Martha D. Gould, Orleans Parish Factories Inspector, workers at the American Chicle factory could "enjoy the noon hour with a comfortable lunch and some diversion and recreation" in the company lunchroom [Daily Picayune, September 1, 1913].  Indeed, it seems Inspector Gould took a special interest in the lot of the women and young girls who worked at American Chicle.  In the year prior, Gould arranged a dance at the American Chicle Factory attended by workers of that company and the Consumer's Biscuit Company.  The "factory dance" was "the first of its kind ever given in New Orleans and perhaps in the South" [Daily Picayune, October 6, 1912].

Business declined rapidly for the American Chicle Company in New Orleans during the years following its initial successes.  In 1914, Sentaor W.H. Thompson of Kansas included the company in a list of "628 companies which...have wiped out 9877 original companies" [Daily Picayune, September 6, 1914].  The reversal of fortunes forced the company to sell its New Orleans factory.  In February 1918, the factory sold to the Marine Paint and Varnish Company for $100,000. The new owners prospered until 1959, when the company dissolved.   The factory building itself changed very little through the years.  With the succession of owners, the interior likely saw its share of renovations while the distinctive exterior remained relatively unchanged. The photographs below, from the Charles L. Frank and Frank-Bertacci Collection of the Louisiana Digital Library show the building in the 1930s and the 1950s.  Today the building is home to the Landis Construction Company.

 

 

Photo of the Marine Paint & Varnish Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1930s. The building was built for the American Chicle Company in 1911. Image from Louisiana Digital Libraries.

 

Photo of the Marine Paint & Varnish Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1950s. The building was built for the American Chicle Company in 1911. Image from Louisiana Digital Library. Image from the Louisiana Digital Library Charles L. Franck and Frank-Bertacci Collection.

 

Photo of the Marine Paint & Varnish Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1950s. The building was built for the American Chicle Company in 1911. Image from Louisiana Digital Library.

 

10,000 Trees to fight the heat island affect

To celebrate its 30 year anniversary, Parkway Partners will kick off a five-year, 10,000 tree reforestation program by planting at least 150 mature live oaks along St. Claude Avenue.

Jean Fahr, executive director Parkway Partners said:
“We are committed to the reforestation of neighborhoods throughout New Orleans..."

And in NorthWest Carrollton look forward to trees on Earhart.
We want Earhart to have the dignity of Carrollton (or St. Charles or St. Claude.)

As NorthWest Carrollon has said at more than one neighborhood meeting:
"The expansion of the city's urban tree canopy will reduce the "heat island" effect of open concrete and streets, and will capture a variety of pollutants, including heavy metals, gaseous air emissions and particulate matter" and reduces traffic noise on large streets like Earhart.  "The trees also will assist in reducing urban flooding, as each one can capture 350 gallons of storm water during a typical downpour."

"The five-year plan also will include the training of 150 new Tree Troopers, volunteers who will help ensure the survival of the city’s new trees during their first five years. The first training session will be Sept. 10-12 at the New Orleans Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Avevue."
"The new planting program is an extension of ReLeaf New Orleans, which planted 10,000 trees in the seven years since Hurricane Katrina. The extension is in part a response to the results of The U.S. Department of Agriculture study that found that 10 percent of New Orleans' trees had died between 2005 and 2009, largely as a result of the hurricane, the worst loss of any urban forest in the nation. Over that time, the amount of the city covered by tree canopy fell from 32.9 percent to 23.3 percent. Experts have estimated the city lost more than 100,000 trees.

The new program will focus on planting trees with larger canopies wherever possible, including live oaks and the ornamental pistache, whose leaves turn orange-red in the fall. "

FINALLY NorthWest Carrollton has also lobbied for Larger Trees that mirror the effect of our existing treelined streets, like St. Charles and Esplande.

“These trees are important; they represent continuity,” Palmer said. “When we talk about trying to knit the fabric of our community together, we’re talking about what St. Claude does in terms of uniting Marigny and Bywater and St. Roch and the Upper 9 and the New St. Claude and the Lower 9. St. Claude is not a dividing line. It’s a unifying line.”

And the same can be said for Earhart. We want Earhart to stop being a dividing line and start knitting together community.

Quotes taken from
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/08/parkway_partners_will_plant_15.html

Save- A-Lot

Coming to the "old Walgreens" on the corner of Carrollton & Earhart.

Really?  That's all you got?

Earhart Traffic Cameras

This article in the Times Picayune says the Traffic Cameras at Earhart and Carrollton are OFF.
And they were during the Earhart Construction that took place during much of 2011.....
BUT the construction is complete AND have no doubt that they will be turned back on.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.....

And please keep an eye out for the Photo Enforced signs...
The city has to tell you they are going to take a photo. So be smart and slow down.

See the graphic from the Times Picayune article below.
I know of at least one camera (Prytania between Jackson & Washington) that is NOT shown on the graphic.  IF there is one then there are others and cameras are added all the time.

Praise for Complete Streets

So can we get bike lanes and crosswalks painted on Earhart????

NorthWest Carrollton would like to see Earhart become THE template for how Complete Streets could tranform a street and the surrounding neighborhoods and by extension the city..... all for the better.

From Times Picayune - December 23, 2011 - by Bruce Eggler

Many ordinances passed by the New Orleans City Council attract little notice beyond other offices in City Hall. But it didn't take long for an ordinance approved this month on the subject of "complete streets" to begin attracting compliments. Tributes to the council's wisdom rolled in from sources such as the Louisiana Public Health Institute, Tulane University's Prevention Research Center and the University of New Orleans Transportation Institute.

The basic premise of the growing "complete streets" movement is that city streets should not be designed only with cars and other motorized vehicles in mind. Instead, advocates say, designers and engineers ought to consider everyone else who uses the streets, including bicyclists, pedestrians, people in wheelchairs and transit riders.

The goal, according to the National Complete Streets Coalition, is "road networks that are safer, more livable and welcoming to everyone."
The ordinance adopted 7-0 by the council on Dec. 15 at the urging of Kristin Gisleson Palmer, chairwoman of the council's Transportation Committee, says the city's complete-streets program will require that "all transportation improvements are planned, designed and constructed to encourage walking, bicycling and transit use" as well as moving people and freight in cars and trucks.
In practice, the law says, that means streets should be designed and constructed to include features such as "sidewalks, bike lanes, bike racks, crosswalks, traffic calming measures, street and sidewalk lighting, targeted pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements," plus measures to facilitate access for transit riders and people with disabilities. It also calls for an emphasis on "street trees and landscaping, drainage and storm water management, and street furniture and other amenities."
The Department of Public Works and the City Planning Commission are directed to "develop goals and metrics" for the program, which is to be "fully implemented" by December 2012.
Exceptions are authorized for roads on which walking and cycling are prohibited, those where there is no demand for such activities and those where accommodating all users would raise a project's cost by more than 20 percent. The law also does not require broad redesign for minor street repairs such as filling potholes. But whenever a street is overlaid or rebuilt, the new rules apply.
The ordinance was endorsed by Deputy Mayor Cedric Grant, who oversees all infrastructure and capital projects for the Landrieu administration, and recently hired Public Works Director Mark Jernigan.
Jernigan said the new policy represents a "fundamental leap" in the way the city will approach the planning, design, construction and maintenance of streets. It puts New Orleans "on the cutting edge of industry practices," he said. Noting that 24 miles of bike paths have been constructed in recent years, he said, "A lot more are on the way."
Palmer said Louisiana has one of the best statewide complete-streets policies in the country but that New Orleans is the first town or city in the state to adopt its own policy.
Public health advocates favor complete-streets policies because they promote activities such as walking and bicycling.
"Research shows that people take opportunities to be active when intersections, bike lanes and sidewalks are not only available but also well maintained and safe," said Kathryn Parker-Karst, assistant director of the Prevention Research Center at Tulane.
"By creating safer environments for our citizens, we're also creating a healthier lifestyle for many," said Joseph Kimbrell, CEO of the Louisiana Public Health Institute. "The passage of this ordinance is another sign our community is become more forward-thinking for us and future generations."
Palmer said the new approach also can help lower-income people save money by taking public transit or cycling to work. New Orleans already ranks sixth in the country in the percentage of people who ride bikes to work, she said.
The City Council was not the only legislative body embracing complete-streets principles this month. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed a federal transportation authorization bill that includes a measure for the "safe accommodation" of all users in federally financed street projects.

•••••••

Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3320.

Improved Roadways should get Painted Bike Lanes.

Quote from article below:
"With improved road surfaces, dedicated bike lanes and a wealth of resources for cyclists, the city that was once perceived of as blatantly antagonistic to riders now has a bike-friendly reputation nationwide."

So given the improved road surface on Earhart and Carrollton.... what's holding up PAINTING SOME BIKE LANES on Earhart & Carrollton... maybe even Leonidas..??? This seems a very EASY step to make.

If you want something to happen....
"The City Council has set a goal of attaining "gold" status by 2018."
You have to make a space for it!  Painting bike lanes does just that....

Full Article from Times-Picayune Sunday November 6, 2011 by R. Stephanie Bruno

Six years ago, bicycling from Canal Street to Poland Avenue would have been a ride fraught with challenges, including dodging traffic and avoiding cavernous potholes. But in the years since Hurricane Katrina, conditions have improved so dramatically that bikers are turning out in record numbers -- so much so that New Orleans has been designated a bronze level "Bike Friendly City" by the League of American Bicyclists.

Local advocates say two prime factors have boosted the city's bike-friendly profile: the post-storm resurfacing of numerous roads, and the striping of several major roadways, including Marconi Drive, Crowder Boulevard, MacArthur Boulevard, St. Charles Avenue and Harrison Avenue.
Thanks to millions in disaster aid from the federal government, many miles of roads have been improved since 2005. The city footed the bill for adding bike lanes to the repaired roads, quadrupling its bike-lane mileage from 11 miles in 2005 to 44 miles today, with an additional 15 miles planned.
Studies conducted by Kathryn Parker of Tulane University's Prevention Research Center show that ridership along St. Claude Avenue increased by 57 percent after bike lanes were added in 2008. On South Carrollton Avenue, the number of cyclists jumped a whopping 225 percent after bike lanes were striped in 2010.
Richard Campanella began biking from his Bywater home to Tulane University, where he works as an urban geographer, nine years ago.

View full size

"My decision then was largely pragmatic," he said. "It boiled down to an utter frustration with urban driving, jockeying in traffic and trying to fit a car through tight spaces."
Thirty thousand miles later, Campanella can testify to the fact that many more commuter cyclists are on the streets. Although road conditions are a key reason, there are other factors motivating bikers as well, he said.
"There is an increasing appreciation nationwide of a simpler lifestyle involving biking and walking," Campanella said. "There's a rising interest, especially among young people, in sustainability and concern about global warming. And there is also a recession and high gas prices."
In New Orleans, 18 percent of households in the city don't own a car, a statistic partly responsible for fact that New Orleans ranks sixth among like-sized cities in the percentage of workers who commute to work by bike, according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey.
Bart Everson, who has been commuting to work by bike for eleven years, said he started doing it to save money, but soon became hooked by the "sheer pleasure" biking brings.
"I carry a camera with me and I stop to take photos of interesting things, things I would never see or be able to appreciate in a car, much less be able to stop for," he said.
Everson is a major force behind the effort to create a 3.1-mile bike path along the derelict Lafitte Corridor, which will connect the French Quarter to Canal Boulevard, linking seven neighborhoods along the way.
Whether cyclists are spurred by economics, philosophy, health goals, pleasure or frustration, they now have a bounty of resources available to them that didn't exist a few years ago.
If they need a place to "park" a bike downtown or elsewhere in the city, they can rely on as many as 69 bike racks installed by "Where Ya' Rack?" an initiative of the Young Leadership Council. If they need a map of dedicated bike routes and lanes, they can log on to the web site of the nonprofit Bike Easy and find one.
If they're curious about biking conditions on a favorite back street, they can access "Chain Gang," a detailed map of street conditions generated by NolaCycle from data collected by volunteers. If they need inexpensive parts to repair a bike, they can visit Plan B, a bike co-op in Faubourg Marigny.
And if they plan to ride to a local event but don't know where to safely stash a bike, Bike Easy provides "Bicycle Valet" service at some events -- such as the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival, Wednesdays at the Square and the Lafitte Corridor Hike -- where bikes are stored in secure "corrals."

With improved road surfaces, dedicated bike lanes and a wealth of resources for cyclists, the city that was once perceived of as blatantly antagonistic to riders now has a bike-friendly reputation nationwide. But bronze level recognition just isn't good enough for some: The City Council has set a goal of attaining "gold" status by 2018.