By Juan Montoya
There's an enlightening article in today's Herald that dovetails with the editorial Mayor Pat Ahumada wrote in the opinion page.
The front-page article talks about the synchronization (or non-synchronization) of traffic lights in the city. Apparently, our worse f
ears were confirmed when the city traffic guys admitted they are having a hard time getting the lights across town to jibe. That's not exactly news to those of us who pack a bag lunch every time we have to drive on Price and try to cross the expressway. If you have an older car and it's 100-plus degrees outside, bet on it that it will overheat if you get stuck there.
Now they want to get some newfangled lights that they say will make it easier for them to get them to flicker on the right way. Now, if they couldn't get the simple ones to work right, how can they make us believe that they'll get the newer ones to function the way they're supposed to?
We have asked many times why the lights haven't been synchronized to make traffic flow smoother and have gotten no response. And while we're at it, what's up with the double se
t of traffic lights at the corner of Roosevelt and McDavitt by the Lopez grocery store? Do we really need double traffic lights to tell us when to go go or stop stop? Or was there an exceptional traffic light salesman sometime in the past that could sell coffee to an insomniac?
Speaking of con jobs relating to streets, why is it that when you drive on Paredes Line Road south past Boca Chica you drive past the cemetery and end up – at a dead end on the expressway frontage road? The only way to turn there is to go back the way you were coming in the first place. That is sheer genius.
Or, you drive on Old Alice Road north past Boca Chica and continue until you pass Los Ebanos past the U.S. Post Office, and then past the Workforce Center, hoping to turn left on Price Road (again!), only to discover that you can't get there from here. If you really need to turn on Price you'll end up driving through the parking lot of the commercial mall on the corner. What the...!The recent rains have brought back the potholes that Public Works had spent the last six months patching up. Now, that is job security. They'll need at least that long to patch them up before the next spring rains come along and...they start right back all over again.
The synchronization between PUB and Public Works is the stuff of legends in Brownsville. For more than a year, residents on Old Port Isabel north of Price Road put up with
graders and earth movers, dust on their cars and homes, noisy road building machinery, etc. The finished roads were a major improvement. They enjoyed the fine road...until PUB crews came in, threw some vacuum hoses down the gutters, broke up the pavement, and left. In comes Public Works, lays a thin patch of asphalt on the torn up grade, and leave. The rains come back, and presto, it's pothole time again.
It's gotten to the point where complaining does no good. Between PUB and the city, they have mastered the art of mediocrity to finesse.
Just as PUB and the city can't seem to get it together, neither can the political leadership. Pat complains about his fellow politicians, but let's face it, he had a mandate and blew it all to hell with his abrasive personality.
Now, he'll be lucky to get another vote on the commission on declaring Christianity a good thing.
Atkinson will probably tell him to go to hell. Troiani will probably ask Sossi for an opinion. Longoria will abstain and smirk. Camarillo will recruit volunteers to do studies on it. Gowen will ask for a grant to study the question (with a salary for the researcher), and Zamora will ask if the item will put heads in beds.
And so we stumble from one pothole to another down a one way to nowhere. Karl Marx was right. The road to hell is filled with good intentions. He just never drove on Brownsville streets.
There's an enlightening article in today's Herald that dovetails with the editorial Mayor Pat Ahumada wrote in the opinion page.
The front-page article talks about the synchronization (or non-synchronization) of traffic lights in the city. Apparently, our worse f
ears were confirmed when the city traffic guys admitted they are having a hard time getting the lights across town to jibe. That's not exactly news to those of us who pack a bag lunch every time we have to drive on Price and try to cross the expressway. If you have an older car and it's 100-plus degrees outside, bet on it that it will overheat if you get stuck there.Now they want to get some newfangled lights that they say will make it easier for them to get them to flicker on the right way. Now, if they couldn't get the simple ones to work right, how can they make us believe that they'll get the newer ones to function the way they're supposed to?
We have asked many times why the lights haven't been synchronized to make traffic flow smoother and have gotten no response. And while we're at it, what's up with the double se
t of traffic lights at the corner of Roosevelt and McDavitt by the Lopez grocery store? Do we really need double traffic lights to tell us when to go go or stop stop? Or was there an exceptional traffic light salesman sometime in the past that could sell coffee to an insomniac?Speaking of con jobs relating to streets, why is it that when you drive on Paredes Line Road south past Boca Chica you drive past the cemetery and end up – at a dead end on the expressway frontage road? The only way to turn there is to go back the way you were coming in the first place. That is sheer genius.
Or, you drive on Old Alice Road north past Boca Chica and continue until you pass Los Ebanos past the U.S. Post Office, and then past the Workforce Center, hoping to turn left on Price Road (again!), only to discover that you can't get there from here. If you really need to turn on Price you'll end up driving through the parking lot of the commercial mall on the corner. What the...!The recent rains have brought back the potholes that Public Works had spent the last six months patching up. Now, that is job security. They'll need at least that long to patch them up before the next spring rains come along and...they start right back all over again.
The synchronization between PUB and Public Works is the stuff of legends in Brownsville. For more than a year, residents on Old Port Isabel north of Price Road put up with
graders and earth movers, dust on their cars and homes, noisy road building machinery, etc. The finished roads were a major improvement. They enjoyed the fine road...until PUB crews came in, threw some vacuum hoses down the gutters, broke up the pavement, and left. In comes Public Works, lays a thin patch of asphalt on the torn up grade, and leave. The rains come back, and presto, it's pothole time again.It's gotten to the point where complaining does no good. Between PUB and the city, they have mastered the art of mediocrity to finesse.
Just as PUB and the city can't seem to get it together, neither can the political leadership. Pat complains about his fellow politicians, but let's face it, he had a mandate and blew it all to hell with his abrasive personality.
Now, he'll be lucky to get another vote on the commission on declaring Christianity a good thing.
Atkinson will probably tell him to go to hell. Troiani will probably ask Sossi for an opinion. Longoria will abstain and smirk. Camarillo will recruit volunteers to do studies on it. Gowen will ask for a grant to study the question (with a salary for the researcher), and Zamora will ask if the item will put heads in beds.
And so we stumble from one pothole to another down a one way to nowhere. Karl Marx was right. The road to hell is filled with good intentions. He just never drove on Brownsville streets.
4 comments:
Edit: corner of Roosevelt and Old Port Isabel by the Lopez grocery store?
Correction: corner of Roosevelt and McDavitt Blvd.
How about setting up a left turn when you are on Security Drive? If you are on Security Drive and want to make a left to go to old 77 cafe or McDonalds you are out of luck as you can't make a left.
Is it too complicated for our Brownsville Traffic Dept.? Do we need to bring in a traffic consultant from Huston?
To those comenting, including the embarassing grammar errors, thanks.
all the problems about left turn denial are problems that were inheirited by the traffic dept. those left turns at security and at price used to exist, but they made the traffic so much worse. the only way to improve traffic is to reduce the red time of the signal by eliminating certain movements. those left turn movements were the most expendible. so, basically, a little sacrifice gets us a better intersection. if you wanted to go to mcdonalds, then you shouldn't have turned on security. just go another couple of blocks on boca and turn at four corners. as for price and old alice. that was a mistake by txdot from the very beginnings of the expressway...much like 802 an central and boca and palm. we face the same problem at almost every intersecion with the expressway. the same problem is now occuring at morrison. but, what are you gonna do. you gotta prioritize...and that takes sacrifice.
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