HUDseen: "We Gave Up Long Ago"

The usual suspect

Around noon today I got the ear of a homeowner standing in front of her house at the intersection of Dock, Mill and 2nd Streets at the bottom of the steep hill on 2nd. There is a no trucks sign at the bottom of the hill, as well as one near the top at State. No trucks of any kind are supposed to go down or up that hill, and for good reason. (After Rossman, I'm thinking that the hill on 2nd is the second steepest in downtown Hudson).

I asked the woman if she felt that too many trucks came down the hill. She shook her head, rolled her eyes, and said "Oh, yeah. Way too many. It's been going on for so long."

"What do you think the city could or should be doing about it?" I asked.

"They need more signs. They need a sign at Columbia and 2nd to stop trucks turning there, to make them stay on Columbia, go to Front then Dock and come around that way. That's where the trucks are supposed to be driving to get down here."

"Have you ever talked to anyone at City Hall about the trucks on your hill?" I asked.

She almost laughed, then said "We gave up long ago," pointing in her neighbors' direction. "The city wasn't doing anything to improve the situation."

As if on cue, we both looked up the hill when we heard the unmistakable noise of a tractor trailer headed our way. I took a picture of the Fed Ex 53-footer at the stop sign at the bottom of the steep hill.

Does it matter how it got here?

When the driver stepped out of his cab at Harney Tea, I asked him, "If there were signs on Columbia directing you to instead go to Front Street and to Dock to get here, avoiding the hill, would you follow them?" He knew exactly what I was referring to -- Hudson is on his regular route, no doubt.

He said, and I quote, "No. Because those NO TRUCKS signs are for local deliveries only. I make deliveries all over the area, not just in Hudson, so I can use that hill. Those signs are not for me."

I thanked him and said goodbye.

When the truck driver left the area, he did not drive back up the hill, instead using Dock and Front to continue on his route.