The Dubuque Street walkway between Martini’s and the Sheraton is almost done.

Sheraton recently celebrated their new power to close off their doors to late night student activity downtown. The bumpy road to its completion is a symbol of the relationship between Sheraton officials and the Iowa City City Council.

In June, the councilors voted 4-3 to go ahead with a project that would allow the Sheraton Hotel to close its doors to through traffic between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. if the hotel took on half of the cost of renovating the Dubuque Street walkway .

But the renovation didn’t come without some controversy.

Councilor Connie Champion told officials she would not vote in favor of the project until Sheraton representatives vowed to remove a new outdoor ATM from the plans — the ATM that is now located on the northwest wall of the Sheraton. She felt  ATM users would be vulnerable to crime because of its location. Though the Sheraton representatives removed the cash machine from the official plans they presented to the council, city officials really have no way to prevent the new ATM in the hotel.

It was installed long before the walkway even started to take on its new look.

Champion’s concerns were thoughtful but unnecessary. Now that the machine is in place, it seems to be pretty safe. The lighting is sufficient and will continue to improve as lighting is installed in the walkway. There are other ATMs in the area — like next to Brothers Bar & Grill — that don’t cause problems. They are in very visible locations, not somewhere a person could sneak up and steal someone’s money without being seen.

The council should have never agreed to block downtown traffic from using its doors. Now that winter’s at our doorsteps, waiting for a taxi after bar close will be quite a bit colder.

—by Chris Clark