We All Deserve So Much Better!

It is the hottest day of the year (and hottest day in years) during the hottest week of the year so far (and hottest week in years) during what will likely be the hottest month ever on planet earth in recorded history (following the hottest month ever on planet earth), but you wouldn't know it by visiting the City of Hudson's website.  Today we have dangerously hot conditions all over the city and especially indoors, but there is no information for seniors or anyone concerned about dying or suffering in this heat -- no information about any cooling centers in the city, if there are any.  No helpful information about beating the heat.  But thankfully, we now know the new summer hours in the very well air-conditioned City Hall!

Welcome To The Neighborhood! (or ONE MINUTE, ONE DOLLAR!)

It seems that Hudson City Hall (or possibly just DPW) has lost its mind.  Or have things ALWAYS been this bad?  (Things certainly are not improving!)

It was at least 6 weeks ago when I first noticed a bunch of upright orange temporary NO PARKING sign lining the south side of Oakwood Boulevard.  And now?  What the hell! 

Hudson Fire and HPD Are Getting Really Good At Responding To Vehicle Crashes. Preventing Them Is Another Matter.

HUDseen was a little late to the scene of a 2-vehicle crash at the intersection of Frederick & Columbia this afternoon.  It was probably a terrific collision -- there are scrapes on the new asphalt where the vehicles met.  My assumption that someone pulled out from Frederick into the path of a car coming down the hill was confirmed when I spoke to the friendly fellow who lives in the large house at the northeast corner and who can often be seen standing sentry at the corner.  He said that he heard the crash while he was inside and that it was "really bad."  The two vehicles were a minivan and a car, both of which were towed away.  He wasn't sure if anyone got into the ambulance that was at the scene, but he thought it was possible.  By the time I arrived, a fire engine was leaving and all that remained was the sand in the street soaking up the spilled engine fluid.

HUDseen Predicted This Mess! [with update]

This morning while in the 400 block of Warren Street, I was able to answer a pair of questions HUDseen had posed in an article from May 16th regarding the repaving of the street done by a company called Bob Talham, Inc. that looked suspect.  I asked the following:  Should Talham's work fail anytime soon, who will repair it?  Who will pay to repair it?

In an article from two weeks ago, I showed that two sinkholes under the new pavement in the 400 block of Warren had been repaired -- but I didn't know who did the work.  I also mentioned that a third sinkhole was forming in the block, near 414 Warren.  HUDseen PREDICTED ALL OF THIS!  In the May article, titled Let's See How Well This All Holds Up, I showed pictures of Talham repaving a portion of 6th Street and 2 blocks of Warren Street in the rain. "Just watch, soon it will begin to come apart bit by bit right along the two long seams and elsewhere," I wrote.

It Would Be Almost Comical If It Weren't Happening In Our City

HUDseen ran a short piece in April about DPW's quickly failed paint job on the curb at the intersection of 7th & State, paint that was supposed to make the intersection safer with the influx of on-street parking for the new businesses in the area.  In case you've forgotten or didn't read it, DPW had tried their best to remove one parking space at the northeast corner to create more visibility of oncoming State Street traffic for drivers entering State from 7th Street.  Yellow paint was applied to the top and side of the curb last fall, in October I believe.  I took these pictures in the last few weeks.

It Took Just Four Minutes!

On my way back from the farmers market this morning, I decided to linger a while at the notorious intersection of 6th & Columbia to observe the traffic and see how long it would take to notice something amiss with a driver, a pedestrian or both at the same time.  It's a dangerous intersection that has produced plenty of accidents, and the red lights are run regularly.  Things tend to get really dicey when the farmers market is in town, especially when the bounty is in.  (For the first market this year, there was freshly picked corn to be had!  We have the best corn in the country!)

This Week's Friday Feature

Each Friday until it is repaired by DPW, HUDseen will feature pictures of the damaged pavement surrounding the very exposed storm drain on Carroll Street near State.  I first noticed the damage over a month ago while biking directly at it, then quickly avoiding it, and can only assume that the damage did not happen overnight. I'm thinking the asphalt showed signs of failure beginning years ago.  Of course, asphalt protects storm drains from being damaged by passing vehicles and runoff.  An exposed storm drain is vulnerable to damage.  Water is supposed to flow through the drain, not flow down around it along the outside edges.  Vehicles are not supposed to be hitting exposed edges of drains.  It is as if DPW would prefer that the drain on Carroll be damaged.  "Look how busy we are.  Give us more money to replace old and damaged infrastructure we can't prevent from being damaged!"