Is City Hall Really Ready To Make The Switch To Dozens of $10,000 Parking Kiosks In Lieu Of Meters?

 

It has now been over 5 months since 16 parking kiosks that cost city taxpayers $139,000 were delivered to the DPW garage on Dock Street.  The Parking Study Committee's original phases one and two of the project were to have those kiosks in the ground for the Union Street parking lot and for lower and upper Warren Street (where no meters currently exist) in "the spring of 2025."  Jen Belton's recently amended Phase 1 of the project now just includes kiosks for the city's 5 parking lots, to be done this summer.  The summer clock is ticking.  At least one of those kiosks will be installed on a Warren Street sidewalk, directly in the way of foot traffic.  Well, at least that appears to be the plan.  It's difficult to know what's going on with Belton and the crew of parking professionals since the committee didn't meet last month.

Dear Mr. Perry: Are You Okay? Do You Need Help? Are You Having Trouble Getting Your Work Done?

 

As HUDseen has pointed out a few times in the past year and a half or so, our Department of Public Works decided (or was told by HPD) to extend the yellow curb on the northeast corner of 7th & State.  The idea was to remove a parking space or two to allow for better visibility of westbound State Street traffic for drivers on 7th Street stopped at the only stop sign at the intersection.  Since painting the extra 17 feet of curb to make the intersection safer, DPW has repainted it twice.  They just can't seem to make their yellow curb paint stick to that curb for more than a few months, even though that is not the case with the yellow curb that wraps around that corner.  For the past 8 months, DPW has been having trouble repainting the curb for the third time.  Cars regularly park along the curb with the missing yellow paint.  There appears to be something wrong with our $123,000 DPW Superintendent, and I'm not being facetious. 

No, Not So Lucky!

 

HUDseen posted an article on February 26th about the major excavation and gas tank replacement project going on at Lucky's gas station and convenience mart at 718 Columbia Street.  Within 6 weeks of that post, the station had a new paved surface - both asphalt and concrete -- and new pumps.  And, to my surprise, we got a much-needed new sidewalk out front. 

When Will It Need To Be Repaired Next?

 

Of the 6 or 7 car crashes in the past 10 years at the dangerous intersection of Columbia & 6th that I have seen the results of -- all of which involved someone running a red light -- 3 of them involved a car hitting the same wall of the house at the northeast corner.  The most recent crash there (at least that I am aware of) occurred on the morning of June 12th; I was the second person on the scene.  Just today that wall was repaired.  Yet again.

Trying To Make Sense Of The Downtown Revitalization Initiative Blueprints...

 

... in front of a huge sign which indicates the completion date for the project was 8 days ago!!!  (Has the sign been there for the past year, more or less?)

Does DRI Stand For Dumb Regrettable Ideas?

 

This afternoon around 2:00, I didn't see or hear any DRI activity at the first three intersections of Warren Street, nor anywhere on Front Street, all locations where Luizzi still has plenty of work to complete, mostly with the stone pavers (or whatever they are known as), which are about the dumbest and most unnecessary idea of all the "improvements" the project will bring us (and there are a few dumb and unnecessary ones!).  That's right, on a sunny and brutally hot Monday with no forecast of rain and with the DRI project past the deadline of June 30th, Luizzi had no workers in Hudson.  Not one person. Not one truck. One wonders where they were (Luizzi is based in Watervliet, wherever the hell that is) and if perhaps last week they just decided to give up on Hudson's west side and suffer the consequences... if Hudson City Hall even notices (or cares).

Still There, Three Weeks Later! WTF?