No easy stroll

Regarding “A Walk In The Park”, (Page A16, Thursday), how disappointing that after the marvelous investment in revitalizing Buffalo Bayou Park, the city opted not to allow for safe pedestrian access to the park at the intersection of Allen Parkway and Shepherd Drive, where one end of the park begins. The traffic signal there does not have a “pedestrian crossing” in its cycle, and one is taking one’s life in one’s hands to cross there.

Our neighborhood has talked to numerous city departments and council people about rectifying this, to absolutely no avail. Among other things, we’ve been told that the wiring for the traffic light there is too old and rusty to alter, that adding a “pedestrian crossing” cycle would be too expensive and that the whole bridge would have to be rebuilt to fix the light. We even pitched putting an overhead crossing like those that exist on the Memorial Drive side, since the city already owns the land that runs along Allen Parkway just east of Shepherd. We got nowhere.

The failure to provide safe pedestrian access not only affects the people in that part of the neighborhood, including all those who live west of Shepherd, but it limits the ability of clients of The Center for Speech and Hearing and Lighthouse for The Blind to easily and safely get to the park as well. And it sends a message about just how committed we really are to making Houston a walkable city. Jane Crowder Schmitt, Houston