So why wasn't the intersection of 5th & Columbia included in Vosburgh's recent work? Why didn't Vosburgh install two curb ramps at the southeast corner of that intersection where one ancient "ramp" (north/south) is obscenely narrow, short and steep (and certainly not ADA-compliant) and the other (east/west) is obscenely missing, forcing everyone to either step up and down 6 inches (!) to and from a crumbling curb or to just walk in the street? That corner has always been as dangerous as they come for pedestrians (the northeast corner is no dream, either), and I can't imagine how bad it is for someone who is disabled, elderly or in a wheelchair, precisely the issue the DOJ said we had to fix, and precisely the issue the city hired Vosburgh to handle for us to satisfy the DOJ's consent decree. Why is the most dangerous corner on all of North and South 5th Street not getting one ADA curb ramp where two are sorely needed? Why is one of the worst corners in the entire city -- AT THE TRUCK ROUTE, no less -- not getting any attention from the contractor that the city hired to make walking routes to and from essential city services safe for all?
Given how poorly City Hall seems to be getting things taken care of lately, the head-spinning answer I got to those questions didn't surprise me one bit.
According to what Public Works Committee chair Gary Purnhagen told me via email a few weeks ago when I asked him about the glaring omissions at 5th & Columbia, "DPW has work scheduled at the intersection so we are waiting until that work is done first."
My follow up question to Gary was simple: "This year?"
Purnhagen's response was even simpler: "TBD"
(Is it solely in Hudson that work can be scheduled and TBD simultaneously?)
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| The four corners at 5th & Prison Alley were recently given new curb ramps, none of them sorely needed. One block north, the situation is quite different: sorely needed ramps were not installed. (Picture taken 3 weeks ago) |
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| Done |
No one on the Common Council nor on the Public Works Committee knows when Rob Perry's DPW will be getting to his "scheduled" work at the corner of 5th & Columbia that is preventing the curb ramp contractor from installing a handful of curb ramps there, 2 of which have been sorely needed forever and both of which the Department of Justic ADA people would like to see when they return to inspect our progress in getting the city on par with the rest of the civilized world's sidewalks. And I'd bet anyone a dollar that not one person on the council or on the committee even knows what the nature of DPW's "scheduled" work at 5th & Columbia is that forced Vosburgh to put off installing ADA curb ramps there for the unforeseen future. Hell, I'd bet anyone ten dollars that the so-called mayor of Hudson doesn't even know when or what work DPW is "scheduled" to do at 5th & Columbia that is so important and that it is interfering with desperately needed work on one of the most pedestrian-unfriendly street/sidewalk corners in the entire city.
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| The worst of all corners, not done. Curb ramp work TBD as SCHEDULED! |
Why might no one know about Rob Perry's "scheduled" work at 5th & Columbia? Because Rob Perry hasn't bothered to mention anything about it during any of his recent DPW reports to the Common Council and the public, that's why. He might be the only one who knows exactly what work is scheduled there and when it is scheduled to happen. And that wouldn't be a surprise, would it be?
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| New curb ramps surrounding the sinkhole, each that likely cost us at least $5,000. |
For the past few days, there has been a big hole in Long Alley where it meets 5th Street on the east side. It appears that a sinkhole was discovered while Vosburgh was installing our two new ramps there early this week or late last week. Go figure. This would be referred to as unscheduled DPW work.
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| The green pipe made of PVC replaced a section of broken cast iron pipe that was causing the sinkhole that got DPW's attention. |
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