Add Another WTF To The List!

There's a lot to laugh about when it comes to Galvan's apartment building project on North 7th Street, especially for those of us who live near the monstrosity with no parking on site (okay, they "found" 8 or 9 spaces on the side of the building along Railroad Avenue, but still).  Of course, none of what is to come and how we got here is a laughing matter, but if you don't laugh about it you will probably scream, cry or want to strangle someone.  Or all of those things.  Or, with the other eye on the obscene Pocketbook Hotel project just one block away with no dedicated off-street parking, consider moving out of Hudson (I'm not kidding!).

 

Last week while driving on North 7th, I noticed something else to add to the list of WTFs about Galvan's ill-advised development that will in no way develop Hudson positively.  It came in the form of a sudden jolt to my entire car.  Then, moments later, another one.  That street, from State Street to the bend where it turns into Washington, is an absolute fucking mess.  Long cracks in all directions, depressions, potholes, failing patches, crumbling asphalt -- you name it, it's a disgrace.  The middle of the street is higher than the sides, as if it wants to burst.  IT IS A MESS EVERYWHERE ON THAT STREET, including at the intersection with State, in front of the firehouse and at the intersection with Railroad Avenue.  You'll feel it in your car, especially as you pass Railroad Avenue; you'll feel it on your bicycle as you try to avoid the worst spots; you can see and step on all of it while you are forced to walk in the street because there are no sidewalks available on either side.  A brand new multi-million-dollar apartment building situated along a street that is literally falling apart and likely falling apart because of the building. 

An empty dump truck exiting 7th after having 
delivered a load of stones in May of last year.

It's clear to this regular bicycle rider that the condition of the street has worsened dramatically in the past year and a half since the project began (so many large vehicles have been using the street, particularly dump trucks full of stones and other heavy material).  While the truck and machinery traffic has slowed considerably, the condition of the street is only going to continue to worsen, particularly during the winter.  Every bit of rain or snowmelt that gets into those cracks will add to the degradation -- both the degradation of the asphalt and what is supporting the asphalt.  Hello ignored shitshow.

   

The fantasy-land rendering that was offered for this project made 7th Street look like something out of heaven, including the smiling bicyclists with no worries about even a crack in the street who, as I recall, were riding on the wrong side of the street.  The reality for the people who decide to live in that building, though, is going to be quite different.  That street is simply not holding up and it needs to be replaced badly -- for all the people of Hudson, not just for the apartment dwellers.  But we just finished the most recent biannual CHIP's repaving project with no attention to North 7th, so when will the street have a chance to be repaved and restored to respectability and smoothness?   Will it happen in two years?  

This rendering, as opposed to the one I reference above, 
is found on Baxter's website.  They are the primary contractor.

Galvan's contractor is in the very slow process of creating a sidewalk from Railroad to State in front of the building.  Then they'll have to replace the sidewalk on the west side, north of the alley (the sidewalk south of the alley is shit, but at least it's concrete).  But who will pay to have North 7th Street repaved, a job that in my estimation, based on recent CHIP's work, would cost at least $70,000?  The tooth fairy?  Or will Galvan -- the city's largest property owner who has had enough of Hudson and is moving on to greener pastures -- take care of what is directly in front of their project designed to save Hudson?  Or will it be the taxpayers of Hudson who foot the bill?

Pictures don't quite do it.  You have to stand in the street to 
appreciate how bad it truly is.

Just last week, Galvan began tearing into and around their 
parking lot that I thought had been completed months ago and 
was ready to be occupied someday by the cars of their tenants a three
 minute walk away.  It appears the lot is having drainage issues.