The Need for Traffic Calming

Less than two weeks ago, the problem of speeding cars on lower Union and Allen streets was discussed at the Common Council Police Committee meeting. At 3:23 this morning, the problem was dramatically demonstrated. A car hurtling down Union Street crashed into two cars parked on the street.

Gossips got the news this morning from a reader who lives nearby and was awake when it happened. The reader reported: "The speeding and careening sounds were truly frightening--a car totally out of control--and were followed by the inevitable booming crunches." The reader went to the scene but had no camera with him to record what he saw. 

At 6 a.m., when Gossips arrived on the scene, the street was being swept of bits of broken car debris. One of the victim cars had been loaded into a wrecker; another--sideswiped and its side mirror missing--remained parked at the side of the street.

Both damaged cars belong to residents of the first block of Union Street. By a bitter coincidence, one of them is the car of Alderman David Marston who brought up the issue of speeding cars on Union and Allen streets at the Police Committee meeting. 

COPYRIGHT 2014 CAROLE OSTERINK

Apologies for the poor quality of these pictures. The reader was on the scene with no camera. Gossips arrived on the scene with a camera whose battery needed recharging. These were the only pictures I managed to get before the battery gave out altogether.

More on the Story: A source on Facebook reports that, after sideswiping the cars on Union Street, the out-of-control vehicle sped across Front Street, hit the curb, nearly went airborne while trying to execute the turn, and slammed into another parked car. At this point, the driver exited the car through the window and ran away.