I tried to drive up Fair Oaks to get to Shakers yesterday. I was going to photograph the finished Fair Oaks Construction Project median there. Instead, I got stuck at this corner and ended up unable to make the right turn because there wasn't enough room to maneuver around the latest rubble.
Incidentally, this rubble comes from the demolition of the new crosswalks that were all improperly installed. (I might ask why they didn't demolish the adjoining new traffic-blocking, pedestrian-endangering, cyclist-unfriendly bulbouts while they were at it.)
Oh well. At least that new streetlight is pretty.
12 comments:
when is this going to be done? and when they are done for the day must the construction guys leave the lane verge contraption in place? It's not needed till construction the next day yet it's left in place for rush hour traffic. That cost me 25 minutes of my life.
I do hope that some of these dollars have been earmarked to fix our aging sewer system
Gawd.
Haven't been to Bristol Farms since this whole thing started -- seems like years ago.
Urban renewal certainly stinks doesn't it? We are having to fight with newly done roads and they aren't doing to old style blacktop but this new method with tar and then this chunky gravel stuff. It gets under your car, you track it into your house. I've been told that is the way ALL roads are going to be done now. Oh joy!
I'm so sick of this Fair Oaks debacle. The city got hosed. The city government rubberstamped bad plans and looked the other way or dozed off while the residents screamed that the construction was shoddy and the plans should be redone.
I couldn't make that same turn, Laurie. I also saw a women with a stroller afraid to stand out on one of those stupid bulb-outs. Smart lady.
NOBODY thinks this is a good idea. I hope the next city council makes it priority 1 to tear out the bulb-outs and salvage what we can from the pro 710 people.
ah yes, anything worth doing once, is worth doing twice or three times over! oy!
repeated complaints that the "contractors" did not seem up to par seem to be proving correct what with all the corrections needed.
and, interesting light standard, but how will the Xmas decorations be put up? The old standards seemed longer armed, which is what was needed I thot?
Judy, they are doing the gravel seal thing here in CA too. Doesn't last long (done in May near a friend, ALREADY the gravel has come up, peeled away in places), isn't particularly clean or level and all the issues you mentioned are so very true. But the streets are *only* closed for 3 days to make it happen! As opposed to 2 for paving...oh wait, oops!
PA---oh no, am sure they didn't do anything about the sewer or other pipes below the road---this will all have to be torn up again in 2 years to fix THOSE things! oy freekn vey!
I'm taking bets on how many years will go by before they undo all these "improvements". Those "bulb-outs" are ridiculous! I see people driving over them when making turns. It happens so often that the curbs are turning black from tire rubber and there are growing piles of hubcap fragments....
What a disgusting mess.
And yes, it it gawd-ugly!
of all the businesses affected by this project I do not feel sorry for the pet shop and dog "hotel" they are a nuisance and a health code violation on their neighbors. the walkers don't pay attention to the animals but to their cell phones, the dogs destroy plants, litter the area with crap and stink up the neighborhood with urine
There's a price we pay for a Council that doesn't live in the real world. More on this in the days and weeks ahead.
Hi guys,
It is really hard not to stand back and shake your head, isn't it? I know there was money to spend -- money that apparently had to be spent. I know that because of beaurocratic red tape, the money had to be spent on whatever was eligible for it to be spent on. Ah, politics.
But what I don't know is why the job wasn't better managed from design approval to construction. I do know that many, many residents pointed out that this project was questionable from the very beginning. In those first weeks we all saw a road that looked like bombs had been dropped. We saw a bizarre splattering of orange traffic signs that made the street look like a sign truck had overturned. I wished then that I had some kind of city power because I just wanted to stop the process right then and revisit the plans.
Maybe it's because I'm a mom, but when I see a big mess like this I expect the people who made it to clean it up. If they broke something, I expect them to fix it. And maybe it's because I take after my dad -- a type A workaholic whose who believed in doing excellent work but I just can't stand crappy execution. And I really can't stand passing the buck when it comes to accountability.
As a mom I also fear for safety issues -- like the serious pedestrian safety issue regarding those ridiculous bulbouts. I actually drove over one early on. I was used to the way Fair Oaks used to be and just pulled into the no-longer-there right turn lane. Yes, it was my fault. I own that. But it's lucky nobody was there to get in the way and it's fair to say that others will make the same error. Repeatedly. Nobody expects a lane to suddenly end with a jutting curb on a major thoroughfare.
I'm just one person with an opinion, here. But it seems I speak for the majority when I say that the city deserves better than this.
Amen.
Thanks for mentioning the threat to cyclists in your post.there is no way to maneuver Fair Oaks on a bike now.
We deserve so much more in so many ways.
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