Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The Route of the Problem
At the informal Common Council meeting on Monday night, Linda Mussmann, as is her wont, brought up the truck route, which runs past her arts organization, Time & Space Limited. She told the Council that she'd noticed that the truck route was closed on Saturday for the Flag Day parade. She wanted to know how that happened and wondered if the truck route couldn't be closed every weekend.
Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward), who as an Elk and former mayor's aide has knowledge of such things, explained that the Department of Transportation puts the signs out, and that Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, makes the request to DOT. The truck route is closed "on a temporary basis" for a period of six hours.
Mussmann indicated that she thought a six-hour respite from the trucks every weekend sounded pretty good. Council president Don Moore seemed intrigued by the idea, too, and reminded those present that Hudson Development Corporation has applied for a grant to study truck activity in Hudson.
Gossips Note: Getting ready to write this post, I went over to Fourth and Columbia streets to get some pictures of trucks on the truck route. At about 10:30 this morning, it took a surprisingly long time to get the three truck pictures that accompany this post. Conspicuous by their absence this morning were the ubiquitous gravel trucks, and a trip down to the river confirmed my suspicion. There was no barge at the Holcim dock waiting to be filled.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK
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Well there's the solution to most of the truck route traffic problems in Hudson. Why don't we just ban barges from docking at the Hudson waterfront! That will get all the gravel trucks out of here! And we won't have to deal with the DOT and their 6 hour "temporary basis only" ruling.
ReplyDeleteIt's not only gravel trucks. It's the entire concept of 53-foot commercial semis roaring down Green Street to Columbia, then down Columbia. Or roaring across Park Place (ask Mike at the photo studio about his experiences at the corner of Warren and Park Place!). Come to the corner of Green, State, and Columbia anytime you want for some heart-stopping truck shennigans. A truck study would be a good first step...
ReplyDeleteI always love reading comments that sound so negative. "It's not only gravel trucks". "Gravel trucks are in the minority". Yeah, but it's a START in trying to solve the truck problem. Even if
Deletegravel trucks are only 35%, it would be 35% less truck traffic. Either of you have a better idea to reduce truck traffic? A traffic study? That would probably take Hudson 2-3 years to put together since Hudson has been discussing this for years already and have done nothing to solve the problem.
I predict that a truck traffic study will find that gravel trucks are in the minority.
ReplyDeleteIn this "food desert" the trucks deliver all ingredients needed...for stone soup.
ReplyDeleteChad is correct. The massive increase of enormous trucks of all types,that are coming and going, seem to be in sync with new Wal-Mart/Lowes mallarama, expansion.
ReplyDeleteSo, during that six hours, that the truck rte was closed...what route did they take? Did they close Green St., Park Place and upper Warren, as well? I am very curious.
-- Wasn't there a traffic study done long ago, maybe around the early FOH years, comparing the current truck route to a route going through Buckley Corners, measured in time and distance? I can't remember who commissioned it, but somebody here should remember.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a plan for 'the big loop road' , looping south and west of Hudson.