You Installed A Stop Line Where, Mr. Perry?

The recently installed stop sign and $126 stop line
on Paddock Place

Readers may recall an article I posted in February, titled  YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP, by far Hudseen's most widely read piece, about the dysfunction and gross lack of communication at City Hall.  (The article seems to have gone somewhat viral, still being read regularly 4 months later!).  One portion of that story is worth revisiting, as it serves as a stark example of how our DPW operates, seemingly without logic, common sense or a healthy regard for safety along our truck route. 

It took DPW (Robert Perry and Peter Bujanow) and HPD (Shane Bower and former Police Chief Ed Moore) several months, but they finally got the requested stop sign installed on Paddock Place in early April.  Success!  DPW also installed a stop line in the road beside the new sign, something that was not requested by anyone on the council.  The line is a decal, not painted, the same as is used for crosswalks, which DPW essentially melts into the asphalt with a torch.  It measures 18 inches wide by 18 feet long, which means we spent over $125 on that stop line (the 18-inch-wide lines come in 6-foot lengths and cost the city $42.24 each). 

Paddock Place is located in a residential area near tennis courts and a school, far from the city's truck route and the commercial district. Traffic on Paddock is not heavy by any means, and one will never see tractor trailers or truck traffic of any kind there, including Colarusso's gravel trucks. The occasional Fed Ex or UPS truck may make up the bulk of trucks seen along Paddock. Pedestrian traffic is rare relative to downtown Hudson. But Robert Perry felt a stop line was necessary and important, so he had one installed at the cost of over $125.

A car hoping to make a right on red at 6th and Columbia

No stop lines or crosswalks necessary?

Two nights ago at about 7 pm, while walking north along N. 6th Street approaching Columbia Street, I heard a car ahead of me honking its horn repeatedly.  I looked up to see a car headed west on Columbia Street in the middle of the intersection slowing down, while the car honking its horn, headed north on 6th and about to enter the intersection, was coming to a quick stop with a green light above it.  The driver of the car on Columbia had realized, thanks to the honking of the other car's horn, that their light was red, even though it was too late by then.  The driver was not speeding to beat a red light -- they were ignoring the light or just never saw it.  The driver slowed down, then continued on down Columbia, having just driven under a red light.  Had the car on 6th with the green light not noticed that the other car was about to run the red light, there certainly would have been yet another accident at that dangerous intersection. 

There is not one stop line at the intersection of 6th and Columbia along our truck route. How about at the quiet intersection of Paddock Place and Joslen Place with two stop signs? Check! 2 stop lines, one very new and costing over $125!

Yesterday morning while taking pictures of the stop line and crosswalk-free intersection at 6th and Columbia, I watched as a pickup truck headed east on Columbia ran the red light.  Once again, 14 hours later, the driver was not speeding to beat a green light from turning red or driving under a yellow light -- the light was red for at least another 10 seconds after the car passed, which is to say that the light was red as the driver approached the intersection.  The only difference was that this red light runner never applied their brakes, just rolled right through, foot on the accelerator.  A car entering the intersection along 6th Street with a green light may have slowed the driver down or forced him to come to a crashing halt, of course. 

The driver of this car and I saw a pickup
truck run the red light

I made eye contact with the driver of the following car that stopped at the same red light seconds later, and we motioned to each other as if to say "WTF!"  I heard the driver say "It's crazy!"  Apparently, she had watched, also in disbelief, as the pickup truck in front of her ignored the red light.

Last year at a Common Council meeting, I asked DPW Superintendent Robert Perry why there were no stop lines at 6th and Columbia.  He offered three explanations:  "We don't have unlimited funds"; "Some things are important and some things are not," whatever that means; and, "We try to put lines down in the commercial district first."  Is that so, Mr. Perry?

There are no stop lines along our truck route at 6th and Columbia Streets, a 3-way intersection with no shortage of automobile accidents.  Drivers on 6th are allowed to make a right on red when there is limited sight distance of oncoming Columbia Street traffic, including enormous trucks best suited for highway travel.  The truck route is most definitely in the commercial/residential district zone.

5th and Columbia has one stop line when there should be 3. 

4th and Columbia, another accident-prone 3-way intersection, has no stop lines.  Never has. 

Recent accident at 4th and Columbia, where there
are no stop lines for all 3 directions of traffic

But the new stop sign on Paddock Place got a stop line, and it only cost us $126.  I'm thinking that that stop line is there to remind drivers where to stop and to prevent accidents, including running over all the pedestrians found there.  Apparently, to Robert Perry, those issues do not exist at some intersections along our busy truck route in downtown Hudson.  Of course, lest we forget or misunderstand Mr. Perry's or Mr. Bower's approach to safe streets and intersections in Hudson, some things are important and some things are not. 

Thank goodness every driver on Paddock Place 
knows exactly where to stop at the new stop sign