Unique downtown deserves preservation
To the editor:
First off, kudos to Mayor Fewell on requesting the jail project be moved out of town next to the police gun range. Every city is unique in its available downtown space, and demolishing houses/businesses to build a huge jail and justice center right next to our old town/courthouse square district was a poor idea.
The historic area with its beautiful tree-lined streets and classic older homes/businesses is what makes Greenfield attractive and unique. Short-sighted planners would have all the trees cut down and easements paved making center turn lanes so traffic — especially the constant fast-moving semis — would be able to rumble through town at 50 to 60 miles per hour.
Once this is done, it cannot be undone, and all Greenfield will be is just another little dot on the map known as a quick shortcut between Interstate 70 and Interstate 74.
Surveyors were recently seen surveying the city easement/sidewalk areas in the historic district. Is the plan already laid out and approved to put in a center turn lane requiring all the green trees to be cut down and removed? If ever a referendum was needed on the ballot, this issue should be voted on.
Let’s save Greenfield and mandate the noisy, racing semis to the edges of town instead of making it more convenient for them to race through.
Dennis V. Dunn
Greenfield
