Just in time for a snowy summer, several new metal fire hydrant markers have appeared around town where none (or few) previously existed. If someone can give me a reason why we need any markers when snow covering hydrants is not an issue, I'd love to hear it. Or does the Fire Department need reminding where their hydrants are located as they set up to battle a fire? Typically, there are no more than three fire hydrants per block, almost always on the same side of the street.
This morning at 8:27, preparing to turn onto South Fifth from Warren while riding MY BICYCLE, I saw a car turn left off of Union onto 5th and head my way. The wrong way. By the time the driver and her car reached me (it didn't take long!) as I was straddling my bike at the outer edge of a parking space on 5th near Warren, she was visibly angry that I was in her way telling her to turn around. So, she drove around me, with just enough room to do so. A second or two later, though, she had to stop her car to allow a family of four to make it safely across the crosswalk at Warren. (The family had the right of way, I guess.) The driver was probably angry about that delay, too.
Just over two months ago, much to Captain David Miller's delight, DPW did its best to rid the City Hall parking lot of any evidence that it once served its customers with good ol' fashioned parking meters (along with a big helping of what Tom Depietro twice announced as the city's primary malady: "The Tyranny of the Quarter"). I happened to be passing through the lot on a not-so-cold day in March when I came across a DPW crew of 4 or 5 guys filling the several holes (30, I believe) where the meter poles once stood on the black asphalt island in the middle of the lot. They were using a grey product, likely a quick concrete mix of some sort. I could see that the mix was too wet, and I knew that what was spilling beyond the holes would not be removed by rain or snow anytime soon. They didn't seem to care they were making a mess, and since neither Rob Perry nor his foreman, Frank Rogers, were around to keep the results from looking too messy, I guess it didn't matter to anyone at DPW what the island in the city's largest and busiest downtown parking lot looks like.
As far as I'm aware, the most recent public mention of creating a pair of residential parking permit systems -- one surrounding the Pocketbook business complex and one on Warren Street -- sounded something like this: "We kind of dropped the ball on that." (Which is to say, nothing!) That update came in March or April from 1st ward council member and SAFETY Committee chair Henry Haddad after he was asked about the residential parking permits, and there have been no discussions about the idea since, not publicly at least.
Just in time for a snowy summer, several new metal fire hydrant markers have appeared around town where none (or few) previously existed. ...
