Thank Rob Perry and Shane Bower! (And Kamal Johnson, Of Course!)

Yesterday in the later afternoon, over the course of just 6 or 7 traffic light changes at 3rd & Warren, I observed three lines of stopped cars headed south on 3rd Street so backed up from the 30 second red light at Union that the final car in line was forced to stop on the crosswalk between the southeast and southwest corners at Warren.  The silver car shown above had to have been stopped on the crosswalk for at least ten seconds with 10 or 11 cars ahead of it and while pedestrians had the right of way to use the crosswalk.  Just 6 or 7 of the cars in line eventually made it past the green light at Union that lasts just 20 seconds.  The remaining 4 or 5 cars at the back of the line that did not make it past Union formed a new line and, of course, more cars got in line behind them, all waiting for another 30 second red light that should only last 20 seconds.  I didn't see any trucks or tractor trailers, but that would have made things a lot more interesting.  

This unwelcome and dangerous situation is becoming more and more common.  Of course, like most of the trucks and tractor trailers found on the truck route portion of 3rd Street, plenty of cars are passing through town without their drivers stopping to visit or spend money downtown.  There must be hundreds of vehicles daily -- if not thousands -- coming from Fairview Avenue and from Route 23B that make their way to South 3rd Street -- either via State or Columbia -- and directly out of town.

How's That Parking Bureau Budget Looking? How's The General Budget Looking?

For at least the past ten years -- and possibly ever since the city's hundreds of parking meters were first installed on and near Warren Street and in four parking lots -- the job of collecting quarters from the meters was handled by one city worker.  ONE!  Now, it appears, the job requires two workers.  While one worker never lets go of a two-wheeled dolly (and never takes his eyes off of the quarters in the topless plastic bucket strapped to it), the other worker removes the quarter collection cans found in the meters and empties the quarters into the bucket, sometimes while one or both of them are talking on their personal cellphones to who knows who.  (Can you imagine?  A 5-gallon plastic bucket without even a lid!  Talk about secure, smart, safe and theft-proof!)

Go Ahead, You Can Park There! Like So Many Other Fire Hydrants In Town, It's Been Out Of Service For Years!

Last Friday afternoon, parking space lines were painted on both sides of the freshly installed asphalt in front of Galvan's nearly complete and completely regrettable apartment building at 76 North 7th Street.

So F'n Ridiculous! Yet No Surprise At All!

While most Hudson residents with a car have no reason to drive on North 7th Street north of State Street, what transpired last week in front of Galvan's new apartment building, known as 76 North 7th, should concern everyone with or without a car (or bicycle!). The results are emblematic of the woeful lack of planning and coordination inside City Hall, yet more evidence of a Kamal Johnson administration that isn't interested in paying attention to the important details and continues to squander money. I can't imagine this kind of nonsense happening so regularly in any other city in America.

Pedestrians? What Pedestrians? Residents? What Residents? The Disabled? Who?

The mass gathering permit that the city granted to the Upper Depot Brewery for yesterday's Oktoberfest celebration only allowed them "street closure" of the 700 block of State Street (a copy of the signed permit is on the city's website in the Upcoming Events section).  The permit did not allow the organizers to block access to both sidewalks alongside the tented event, but that is what they did anyway.  All day.  Just like last year. 

Just Passin' Through Town!

 

First, I noticed the thick, freshly broken tree branch at the edge of the truck route just west of 6th Street, an obvious result of the sidewalk work happening across the street that had narrowed the street to one lane for a few hours yesterday.

Then I watched this...

Who Is Planning To Excavate Cherry Alley So That Hudson Can Have The Most Awesome Internet Ever? Why, Of Course, It Will Be A "Portfolio Company"!!!

 

In what seems to me to be a first for downtown Hudson, an internet provider will be tearing up a long portion of city roadway to bury their lines -- specifically, and at least for now, along the south side of the first two blocks of Cherry Alley, including 1st street between the alleys.  As far as I can tell, the fresh spray paint in the alley and on 1st Street indicates that the latest internet provider to come to town, Archtop Fiber, has decided to bury at least some of its lines rather than hang them from National Grid's utility poles.  (The worker in the picture confirmed to me that "someone" was going to be digging up the two blocks of the south side of the alley.  He and two others working for a utility contractor hired by National Grid were marking the asphalt to show where Grid's gas lines below the asphalt are located and to be avoided.)