Today, as I was walking on the sidewalk of the 700 block of Columbia along the park, I noticed a man and his dog on the other side of the street standing next to the pole with the button for the pedestrian crossing signal, looking back and forth, obviously waiting to cross the street when the time was right. Car after car streamed by without stopping for him.
I watched as the pedestrian pressed the button a few times and look up to see if anything was indicating anything, this probably being his first time trying to cross the truck route at Citgo. He then watched more cars stream by in both directions. No one would stop for a person in an orange hat at the curb where a painted crosswalk exists. He hit the button again and looked up and around. I yelled to him "It doesn't work." He nodded and shook his head. About 20 seconds later there was enough of a lull in the traffic that he and his dog were able to make it across the truck route safely without any assistance from the broken crossing signal.
That (once) important pedestrian crossing signal, one of several installed last year or the year before, has not worked for at least 8 months. Our DPW installed the signals after Common Council member Dominic Merante, who is nearly blind, secured funds for them. Neither Rob Perry nor Dominic seem to care that probably the most important pedestrian crossing signal in town hasn't worked for at least 8 months. Oh, yeah -- add Kamal Johnson to the list.
Then there's the issue of the condition of the lines that make up the important crosswalk. Real attractive, right? DPW did a stellar job of maintaining them this year, don't you think? Aren't they just killin' it! Lest we ever forget, our DPW Superintendent Robert Perry has an annual salary of over $115,000. "Broken and missing crosswalk lines, broken and missing pedestrian signals? Not my fucking problem!" he probably thinks.
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