I need to blow off some steam

[Bugman]

Once again, life in downtown Austin and the Near East Side was disrupted over the weekend by street closures for some events. Yesterday, the South 1st Street bridge and several streets were closed for a city wide dog walk.

Today, the MS 150 Charity Bike Ride was in town. Now this is a worthy and noble cause, and I have nothing at all against the event itself. It raises a large sum every year for MS research, and should be supported.

What I and many people here have a problem with is the frequency of street closures when we live and work. I don't have current figures, but from September 2007 to September 2008 there were street closures in the parts of the city I mentioned totaling 110 days.

Most of these events are marathons, bicycle races, charity walks and various street festivals. All fine events, and no one is asking that they go away. What we are asking the city to do is spread them around a bit. There are other parts of Austin that could host some of these things. Not everything needs to be held downtown. That sounds reasonable enough to me, but I'm not holding out much hope.

 

[milagros317]

Part of Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan was closed today for the Greek Independence Day Parade. Nothing wrong with that, but I have the same feeling that you do: Why does everybody have to have a parade on Fifth Avenue? It blocks the crosstown bus where I live and makes it almost impossible to get over to the east side of the island.

 

[Bugman]

Part of Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan was closed today for the Greek Independence Day Parade. Nothing wrong with that, but I have the same feeling that you do: Why does everybody have to have a parade on Fifth Avenue? It blocks the crosstown bus where I live and makes it almost impossible to get over to the east side of the island.

Try this on for size. Our mayor, Lee Leffingwell, has been featured in radio commercials urging people to move downtown to fill the vacant condos built before the economy went south. Of course, many of the streets there have been falling apart for years, and they are closed for roughly one third of the year anyway. There are no grocery stores downtown, and other then bars and restaurants and some retail stores not much open after 5 or 6 pm.

The Austin I knew and loved is gone, never to return. If I could, I would move to Marble Falls, Fredericksburg, Georgetown, Bastrop, but there are no jobs there and the commute to Austin is just not practical for most people.

 

[Helena]

Hi Bugaboo,

Here in Massachusetts it's not celebrations that close roads. It's construction. The same construction projects go on for months with no resolution. Our state thinks nothing of never-ending spending on construction, but never have I run across as many potholes as here.

Also, I live on route 20 which is busy all the time. In the morning when I leave my house, it takes me any where from 3-7 minutes to pull out of my driveway.

Cheer up, my sweet.

 

[Bugman]

Hi Bugaboo,

Here in Massachusetts it's not celebrations that close roads. It's construction. The same construction projects go on for months with no resolution. Our state thinks nothing of never-ending spending on construction, but never have I run across as many potholes as here.

Also, I live on route 20 which is busy all the time. In the morning when I leave my house, it takes me any where from 3-7 minutes to pull out of my driveway.

Cheer up, my sweet.

Don't get me started on the subject of road work here. Street and highway repairs are put off as long as possible, then all started at once. If they ever get done that is. And once they start, they never seem to end. East 2nd street has been torn up for years, and they seem to work on the same places over and over while ignoring what needs to be done.

 

[mass1926]

Hi Bugaboo,

Here in Massachusetts it's not celebrations that close roads. It's construction. The same construction projects go on for months with no resolution. Our state thinks nothing of never-ending spending on construction, but never have I run across as many potholes as here.

Also, I live on route 20 which is busy all the time. In the morning when I leave my house, it takes me any where from 3-7 minutes to pull out of my driveway.

Cheer up, my sweet.

Hey what part of mass, I live in MA too!!

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

Blow off some steam..........hmmmmmm..


Armpitlver would be the man to talk to about this.



Drew

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I can't go three tenths of a mile without hitting a frickin' road crew up in Princeton. The money for construction projects is available only through a brief period of time, and they do them all at once, or lose the funds. You're expected to grin and bear it, of course...

As for state capitals, Buggie, they're all like that-everyone goes home, and the downtown area's shut up tighter than a Tupperware tote. Also, the political nature of things dictates that they close streets down for pretty much whatever trivial reason. There may be only four or five Kazakhstanis living in your city, but they have to have a parade, and they have to shut down a street or two