On May 1, Justin Weaver, mayor's aide, told his colleagues on the Public Works Board that the Ferry Street Bridge was expected to be complete by Memorial Day weekend. Alas, that didn't happen. This was the state of things on the Front Street side of the bridge yesterday.
Gossips contacted DPW superintendent Rob Perry to find out why Weaver's prediction had not come true. According to Perry, it all has to do with National Grid. It seems National Grid needs to install a new gas main, and until that happens, the work on the bridge cannot be completed. Although the new main could have been installed months ago, trenching for the new main did not begin until a couple of weeks ago. When the new main is in place, the guardrails, sidewalks, curbing, and lighting--everything needed to complete the bridge--can be installed.
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🔮 Counter factual narratives/futures:
ReplyDelete🚶♂️1 - if Peter Spear were mayor... I can imagine him doing one of his Ally Chat videos while standing next to the bridge with Rob Perry. I'm sure Rob would be funny as hell, and we'd all know what is going on when it will be finished.
🤓 2 - if Joe Ferris were a mayor... there would be at the very least a frequent press release or very easy to find written blog post pre-empting the bad news. I can see Joe also reaching out proactively to the various Waterfront groups and business to keep them appraised.
3 - if we had a very competent city manager, she would've anticipated this delay alongside Rob, given National Grid's busy summer, and worked with their leadership to minimize delays ahead of time.
All three would tell us what they are doing while they're doing it... (this is how they campaign, and they have real private sector experience) they might call Didi Barrett and other folks to help... and they'd make sure Rob and his hard working team would have what they need from Amtrak / NG.
You wouldn't find out about this because Gossips, volunteer citizen-journalist/blogger asks the important questions.
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🔇 It is not that things go wrong that is the problem in Hudson, it is the utter lack of effective communication and leadership by our paid mayor, his aide, and the common council president.
🌉 If we can't even build a literal bridge on time and communicate professionally about the delays... then how do we expect the City of Hudson and in particular this mayor, to bridge proverbial gaps, to do pioneering and complex things like UBI, new models of public housing etc. arguably bridges too far for Hudson...
p.s. Rob Perry, raconteur of Department updates and paver of roads.... please correct me if I or others are missing something.... if you had all the help you needed... in which case, this is simply a communication issue.
Poifect summary FNI. --peter meyer
DeleteMaybe this year.
ReplyDeleteDuring his April DPW report, Perry said this about the Ferry Street bridge: "This project is going to move rather quickly. They should be done end of May, early June." Apparently, he was not aware of National Grid's necessary work, which he did not mention. That came a month later. While he did mention NG's gas main during this month's report, he didn't say it would delay the project, nor did he offer an updated finish date. Nor did he repeat or amend what he said the previous month, that "this project is going to move rather quickly." "Quickly" compared to what? Luizzi's DRI work on lower Warren and North and South Front?
ReplyDeleteThe birth of a bridge ... Hudson's miscarriage ...
ReplyDelete