Hi, I'm a Hoes Heights resident. There will still be a park at the base of the tower, and this decision means the design of that park (and traffic calming on the opened street, for pedestrian priority within the park) can move forward. This was a situation where the Roland Park Community Foundation took up the task of renovating the tower, which is awesome, but made the case to close the streets without considering the input of Hoes Heights residents, whose only easterly (and northeasterly) access point is this road. It would have been fucked up for the community organization of a historically segregated neighborhood to take an actively used, necessary entrance to a historically Black enclave and pave it over because it would be "better" as a park, which is what was happening. The racial history of Roland Park, Hampden, and Hoes Heights is fascinating, and I appreciate that the mayor saw the status quo as perpetuating a subconscious racial inequity in the history of these neighborhoods and made a decision which favored the voices of Hoes Heights residents.

This decision has also been the result of several years' worth of traffic calming efforts to try and make the other entrances and exits to Hoes Heights along Evans Chapel safer. We had meeting after meeting with DOT, Councilman Torrance, and Councilwoman Ramos, and they understood that leaving the road fully closed was literally a hazard. I personally witnessed two car crashes involving someone trying to get into/out of Evans Chapel while the tower roads were closed - people speed like demons around here and that south exit is nearly blind. God help anybody who had to leave this neighborhood by car during rush hour. I originally wanted the road closed (because green space, sure!), but over the past couple of years, and through listening to the voices of the people who have lived in this neighborhood longest - who are Black and working class and largely elderly - my mind was changed. In general, this is a highly walkable area with a substantial bit of existing public green space. (How about that pending parcel of park land from the RP country club, 1/4mi away!) The road around the tower isn't some massive panacea, and there will still be a new park designed there. But speaking as a resident of this neighborhood, this was necessary.