The Absurdity and Dysfunction Are Frightening

What is missing?

At a recent Informal Common Council meeting I asked Robert Perry, Jr., the head of the DPW department, why there were no stop lines or crosswalks at the intersection of 6th and Columbia along our truck route and where the busy farmers market is located for much of the year.  I asked why it appeared that there had never ever been one drop of paint in that intersection, not on Columbia and not on 6th.  Was the busy three-way intersection not worthy of anything besides a traffic light?  Are no stop lines or crosswalks needed there?

Mr. Perry acknowledged that no stop lines or crosswalks had ever been installed at that intersection.  He offered two reasons why this was so.  First, DPW tries to put stop lines and crosswalks "in the commercial district first," implying that 6th and Columbia, one block from Warren Street, was outside of the commercial district.  Second, he offered, "We do not have unlimited funds."  Mr. Perry's implication was that he WANTED to install stop lines and/or crosswalks there, but he has never been able to do so.   Thirteen years or so as DPW Superintendent and he hasn't found (or apparently requested) the money to put any white paint or decals on the pavement at 6th and Columbia.  And we are supposed to believe this nonsense.

There have been several accidents at 6th and Columbia in recent years, but none of the accidents bring any attention to the intersection from HPD, DPW or anyone at City Hall.  Nearby residents have come to council meetings to essentially tell the Police Chief Ed Moore, Robert Perry and Tom Depietro that something is wrong with the intersection - too many drivers are running the red light on 6th and there are too many accidents.  Alas, they are all wasting their time trying to get through to these people. 

What is NOT missing?

I could offer well over a dozen examples of stop lines installed at intersections well away from Hudson's commercial district.  Here is one:  Both ends of Dodge Street in my residential neighborhood got stop lines in either 2021 or 2022.  I guess Mr. Perry felt the lines were important enough to PURCHASE and install to keep drivers and pedestrians safe at the ends of quiet little Dodge Street where no tractor trailer trucks can be found travelling 30 mph and more.   Dodge Street, where there is no such thing as "traffic."  The occasional car driving at 15 mph, yes.  Not traffic, though.  Perhaps Mr. Perry felt he could even prevent an accident or two on Dodge.  Maybe there were several accidents there that no one else but he knows about.  Why else put the lines down?  To show how busy your department is keeping us all safe?

But the biggest WTF is that neither Rob Perry nor Ed Moore has the authority to make the decision about where to install any traffic control devices, including crosswalks and stop lines.  That responsibility lies ONLY with the Police Commissioner, Shane Bower.  It says so in our Code.  Bower never attends any public meetings, so residents come to meetings and make their plea to Rob Perry, Ed Moore and Tom Depietro thinking that if anyone is going to get something improved at 6th and Columbia and elsewhere, it will be those three.  They are sorely mistaken, and the lack of white paint or decals at the intersection of 6th and Columbia along our truck route YEAR AFTER YEAR suddenly makes a whole lot of sense.  And the several accidents there, too, with drivers running the red light, begin to make sense.  Well, of course Dodge Street has stop lines and much of the truck route does not!  The dysfunction at City Hall continues to dictate that this will be so and we will all be less safe for it.

Along our truck route at 6th street and at 4th street there is not one drop of white paint or bit of decal in the intersections.  There have been a few accidents at 4th recently, even some talk of putting a flashing red light for traffic on Columbia to see the light better.  That idea seems to be going nowhere.  There is one stop line at Columbia and 5th, where there should be three.  Warren Street, of course, is replete with installed and maintained crosswalks and stop lines.  

Questions?  Comments?  

The DPW webpage does not offer a phone number next to Robert W. Perry, Jr.'s name, just an email address.   Yup, the DPW Superintendent who, according to public records, makes over $114,000 a year, doesn't bother to offer a phone number next to his name on his own webpage.  Try calling the DPW general number anyway, maybe someone can track him down for you.  518-828-9458

The HPD webpage lists who the Police Chaplain is, but there is no mention of the Police Commissioner Shane Bower.  It's as if there is no such thing as a Police Commissioner in Hudson.  No name, no phone, no email.  No wonder he doesn't attend public meetings! Try calling the HPD station at 518-828-3388 to see if the dispatcher has seen Mr. Bower lately.  If you do speak with Mr. Bower, can you do me a favor and ask him if he ever plans on attending an informal council meeting, and if so, when.  Thank you and good luck!