Friday's Features - Its Two Month Anniversary!

This is FF's two-month anniversary (I'm pretty sure it is), so it is appropriate to revisit the issue that began things for this feature.  Early this week, someone, probably DPW, put a cone over the damaged and missing asphalt surrounding the storm drain on Carroll Street.  And that's all you need to be aware of on that issue.

A few feet away, though, DPW was gettin' things done.  A fresh crosswalk was installed across Carroll at State (the old one was pretty well gone).  Anyone who has ever crossed there on foot knows two things:  it can be scary due to all the directions of traffic headed one's way and the lack of assistance from traffic lights or pedestrian signals; and, it's a long way from one side of the street to the other.  So long, in fact, that the crosswalk required 22 6-foot lines -- made of "expensive and labor intensive" thermoplastic decals, of course.  Paint is too cheap for Robert Perry's tastes. (Compare this crosswalk to the one on Prospect Avenue at Rossman which required 12 lines!)

Notice all the brown burn spots - the mark 
of Hudson DPW!

At $45 for each 6-foot line, that crosswalk cost us $990.  Ten dollars less than one thousand fucking dollars!  But that number does not include the gas needed for the blowtorch to melt the decals into the asphalt, the gas needed for the leaf blower to prepare the surface, nor the labor of 4 or 5 DPW workers.  Let's call it our newest $1,200 crosswalk, shall we?  My goodness, you'd think our streets were paved in gold considering the amount of money Robert Perry spends on pavement markings.  Paint would have probably cost us the insane amount of $30 or $40, no blow torch necessary.

During last month's informal meeting, Perry explained to council member Vicky Daskaloudi that the $10,000 box of thermoplastic decals he featured in a picture would go as far as repairing the "120 crosswalks around town but not allow us to create any new crosswalks."  That one long repaired crosswalk on Carroll consumed one-tenth of the $10,000 box of decals Mr. Perry bought for use this year.  He also mentioned that the thermoplastic lines "last about two years."

DPW installed two new thermoplastic arrows at the other end of Carroll where the bend in the road is kinda tricky and dangerous (one of the arrows was fine and did not need to be decaled over!).  For some reason, the yellow line in the middle of the street was not repainted recently when the county restriped all of our yellow lines, as they do every year.  Mr. Perry sees no problem with allowing that line to fade to nothing.  I told you, the dude hates paint!  Or he hates yellow.  Or he hates safe streets. Or he is a slob.  Or, more likely, all of the above!

Over on Clinton Street where it ends at 6th Street, DPW was doing more thermoplastic beautification this week.  They added a 3-foot section of white decal to a 13-foot stop line that was, and still is, in pretty rough condition.  I'm thinking that was the last section of decal they had in the $10,000 box!  That piece only cost us about $24 (as opposed to 40 cents in paint!  Boy, what will we do if that piece doesn't last the two years Mr. Perry expects it to last?  That line will really start to look like crap!  Not to worry, because by then we will have paid for another $10,000 in plastic lines that will "last about two years."

Thank goodness DPW took the time, resources  
and money to fix this stop line!

And that's all the time and space HUDseen has for this week Friday's Features (believe me, there's lots more to choose from -- we'll get to them next week, maybe!).  Have a fine weekend.