"Development?" I was filled with sadness and anger



I took this pic from the office I was visiting.  Goodbye: animals, birds, snakes, essential ground bugs, natural drainage and water purification  the aquifer.  The office staff have seen the critters trying to escape and find new homes via their parking lot.


I was in an office at the south east corner of Honore Ave and University Parkway on Thursday 13th Oct 2016

The office overlooked some land being cleared on the south west corner.  It was a precious spot of wetland.

Soon it will be "developed" as the site of a Whole Foods Market

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market


and a WAWA store

https://www.wawa.com


This is in a area partly in Sarasota County, partly in Manatee County which is already horribly over-developed and despoiled. It's adjacent to Interstate 75, and it was only AFTER the de-spoiling that the builders, the planners, the merchants realised that the increase in traffic was overwhelming the intersection between University Parkway (a busy urban road) and the Interstate.

So NOW and only now that intersection is being rebuilt at the expense of the Taxpayers  (shouldn't the developers been made to foot the bill?)

Our local Press is in an orgy of excited heavy breathing because the new intersection will be designed as a "Diverging Diamond"  -  THE FIRST IN FLORIDA!!!!  ( We should be so lucky).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverging_diamond_interchange

NB from the article:  (Guess who counts around here)
  • " Pedestrian (and other sidewalk user) access requires at least four crosswalks (two to cross the two signalized lane crossover intersections, while two more cross the local road at each end of the interchange).[ This could be mitigated by signalizing all movements, without impacting the two-phase nature of the interchange’s signals".

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Goodbye: animals, birds, snakes, essential ground bugs, natural drainage and water purification to the aquifer. 

Hallo more traffic congestion at the Honores/University intersection (about half a mile west of the new, vitral and exciting Diverging Diamond),

Hallo more air and ground water pollution,

Hallo more food wastage from the WAWA and the Whole Foods.

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     They call it development.  I call it despoiling.

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