Pedestrian tunnel: A source of frustration for neighbors

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By Tory Brecht | Tuesday, October 14, 2008 4:47 AM CDT | () comments

A student treks through the tunnel under the railroad tracks by Monroe School. (Larry Fisher/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo

Smart Intermediate School students Deontye Lewis and Chris Connors rolled on skateboards through the 70-plus-year-old tunnel that cuts under the railroad trestle behind Davenport’s 6th Street.

For the first time in quite awhile, they didn’t have to step off their boards and dodge garbage and debris to pass through the tunnel, which many students use to get to Smart and Monroe Elementary School.

“Sometimes, it gets a lot of garbage in there, and it gets your shoes messed up,” Chris, 13, said.

The maintenance of the tunnel — which was built by the railroads and turned over to the city sometime in the 1930s — has been a source of frustration for many in the neighborhood.

In 2003, the tunnel came close to being closed permanently. Some neighbors thought it was a magnet for crime, drug use, graffiti and gangs. A meeting was held at which city officials suggested closing the tunnel permanently.

However, other neighbors — who said the tunnel is necessary to get children safely to and from the schools — held a petition drive and convinced aldermen to keep it open.

Part of the agreement the neighbors reached was to work to keep the tunnel clean, with assistance from the city.

Recently, resident Paul Vasquez complained at City Council meetings that the entire burden of tunnel maintenance has been placed on the neighborhood.

Vasquez shared photos of a truck full of debris and garbage pulled from inside the tunnel and around its entrance. The lights lining the ceiling still aren’t working, and the floor is still a drainage problem, he said.

“The city has not held up its end of the bargain,” he said. “The neighborhood should not have to complain that much to get it maintained. Our taxes pay for the city crews. We can support it, and help, but we shouldn’t be the only ones required to clean it.”

Moira Bradford, who heads up the Park Lawn Neighborhood Watch, said she agrees in principle with Vasquez but questions his tactics.

“You catch more bees with honey than vinegar,” she said. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to approach the city. I don’t think the city responds well to angry demands. You need to be diplomatic.”

Bradford noted the city did get around to cleaning out and painting the tunnel, but, like Vasquez, hopes for a long-term solution.

Part of that solution, she said, will come from the neighborhood group, which is working with the city to become a designated, established neighborhood. Part of that process involves establishing a neighborhood plan that addresses problems and potential solutions. Finding money to improve or replace the tunnel will be in that plan, she said.

“I do firmly believe the city could and should do much more maintenance at the tunnel than they do,” she said. “It does need to be clean, and it needs to be saved because it’s used by our neighborhood kids.”

Third Ward Alderman Bill Boom, whose ward includes the tunnel, said he is working on short-term and long-term solutions.

For now, he said, the city parks department has agreed to inspect the tunnel on a regular basis and keep it cleaned up and free of graffiti.

Down the line, he said, he supports building a new tunnel. That will require receiving significant state and federal funding, Boom said, adding that he thinks the project could cost close to a quarter-million dollars.

“We could spend a lot of time and money patching this up, but we’d be better off with a new one,” he said.

Vasquez said he’s glad to see that Boom and other aldermen are taking an interest in the neighborhood problem, but he’s still irked that he had to fight so hard to get anyone to notice.

“The concept of (Boom’s) Third Ward Action team is good, but I’d like to see a little more action and less talk,” he said. “I went to the council for seven weeks, talking about the lighting problem and the filth down there. I ended up having to call Des Moines (to speak with the state ombudsman) to get anything done.”

Terry Cook, who lives on 6th Street and works in the office of Monroe Elementary, said the tunnel must remain open.

Many Monroe kids rely on the tunnel as a shortcut to school that is safer than walking down Division Street or clambering over the tracks.

“I’ve lived down here my entire life,” she said. “I walked through the tunnel, my kids walked through the tunnel, and I have grandkids at those schools now who use the tunnel. It would be nice if there was a group — or the city — that took responsibility for its upkeep.”

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.