WTF? WHO ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH DREAMED UP THESE IDEAS?

(Ed.'s Note: Ok. We give up. What in blazes is going on here? This morning employees and visitors to the Cameron County Courthouse on Harrison Street woke up to find that the previous two-way street has now been turned into a one way heading east from 7th Street all the way up to 9th.

Also, that if you are driving on the one way (as the SUV in the top photo) and want to park to do business, you will have to back up in reverse to do it. The white SUV in the graphic did it right. The car on the left just parked in the usual way and will have to back up and go forward into 9th street at right.  The reverse, angle parking into the road effectively limits the space available to traffic.

And the parallel parking on the north side of Harrison in front of the lawyers' offices has been removed and bike and hike trail signage has replaced it. It may be poetic justice because the building at the corner belongs to City of Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez. But law enforcement – who have preferred parking across from Da Mayor's building to discuss their cases with the Cameron County District Attorney – are now confused or ignore the new reverse parking as the car above has done. Will someone give that cop a ticket?

County officials say there was absolutely no coordination between the city and county staff before the changes were made overnight Monday. Couple these changes with the construction now going on at the courthouse and mass confusion reigns among employees. To kindly assist the motorists in their confusion, a bevy of motorcycle cops are stationed at 8th and Harrison and another contingent and Tyler and 8th a block away.

That means that if you get on Harrison off 7th Street, you will have to go all the way to 9th before you get a chance to turn left and reach Tyler Street. The, to add insult to injury, since the angled- reverse parking and the bike-and-hike signage limit the space for vehicles, traffic will be limited to a one-way single lane where before there were two lanes and parking on both sides of the street.

 We smell city commissioner Rose Gowen behind this. There is already a hike-and-bike trail down the street in the Linear Park. Is the city once again solving a problem that no one knew existed?

And did anyone ask the county officials whether they wanted this "solution" implemented without giving them notice? Wait until one Monday morning when hundreds of people report for jury duty. If there was ever a programmed cluster f--k, that will be it.

But wait, aun hay mas. Gowen's brain must be working on overtime. They say rutabaga improves creativity and we think that it is kicking in to the feverish gray matter of her noble pate. City planning officials also solved another problem that no one knew existed: being able to sit after a bike ride to look at the back of the Brownsville Herald building behind the county parking lot just across from the Ruben Torres Detention Building.

Not only will the bike riders be able to enjoy an unobstructed view of the county calaboose, they will also be able to partake  the panorama composed of the Herald warehouse and the county parking lot in all its splendor. Sunsets framed by concertina wire, an old warehouse, and a parking lot couldn't get better than this. 

But if you are going to sit and take a break cycling in the torrid South Texas sun, don't expect to find any shade to shelter you from the rayos del rey asrtal. The benches were placed exactly where there are no trees for protection. Fifteen minutes after a sweaty ride and we'll guarantee that you'll roast like a hot dog on the unprotected benches. Who the heck wants to bike-and-hike to sit between a parking lot and a county jail? Thank you, Rose!)