Can We Trust Colarusso and Rob Perry To Build Us Any Infrastructure That Will Last Even Just A Few Years?

Here are some pictures I took a few days ago of the concrete sidewalk and street surfaces of the year-old Ferry Street bridge.  Even if you don't ever drive, bike or walk across the new bridge, you should be incensed at the situation.  And seriously concerned about what the heck is going on (and not going on) on the second floor of City Hall.

Incompetence? Dysfunction? Lack Of Awareness Of The Obvious? Plain Old Lack of Communication Between Our County And Our City? Lack Of Respect For Hudson? Or Could It Be All Of The Above?

Columbia County's five very new parking signs on the south sidewalk side of the first block of Warren Street -- four found on city lampposts and one on a (soon to be installed) permanent signpost -- indicate what we all knew was coming.  The county's new parking rules on one block of the city's main thoroughfare prohibits the general public from parking anywhere in front of 11 Warren on weekdays from 8 am - 5 pm lest they get their vehicle towed.  Not ticketed, just towed!  Those once public parking spaces that were always free until this year are now reserved for county employees during workdays.  So, is it safe to say that as of the past week or two the first block of Warren has new county parking rules that trump the city's new paid parking rules that exist along all of Warren?  Well, no, it does not appear that way.  This is, after all, where county meets city, where nothing is simple or straightforward, and where things can get dumb, ugly, and confusing quicker than you can say 11 Warren Street.

You'd Think That Shop Rite Would Know The Drill By Now!

Yesterday afternoon, I first saw the Shop Rite 18-wheeler headed west in the 500 block of State Street, among the five blocks of State between Green and 3rd that compromise what is known around these parts as the Easily Accessible Truck Route Alternative that HPD, mayor Ferris, Rob Perry, Jason Foster, and Margaret Morris are all fine with.

Here We Go Again With The Whack-A-WaterMole! Get Out The Checkbook and Tell Dewan Sarowar To Come Have A Look!

At least two houses in the 200 block of Columbia Street (210 and 212) were flooded this morning due to a municipal pipe break that I have been told by a DPW employee was related to a water main, not a sewer pipe.  It is a wet, muddy mess down there, street closed, a waiting fire engine, and it appears that a local excavation contractor has been called in to assist ($$$$).  This is a much larger response than yesterday's response to the busted pipe at 4th & State, which appears to be completed (though a dirt and stone surface is waiting for asphalt to patch the hole). This latest headache for DPW -- and expense for the city -- will not be wrapping up today, and it's entirely possible that the 200 block of Columbia will be closed to traffic all weekend.

Old Pipes, Too Much Water

Here is some information that has yet to make it to the Announcements section of the city's website.  The DPW Water Department is dealing with a broken pipe of some sort directly under the middle of the intersection of State & 4th.  State is closed to traffic from 3rd to 4th. A whole lot of water is being pumped out of the excavation that was made.  At least one subcontractor for a utility, likely National Grid, is involved with the response.

6:45 This Morning In The Bowl At 325 Columbia! (Hello Climate Change!) Is Rob Perry Aware?

It has been nearly one year since HUDseen last reported on flooding at the low point of Columbia Street, found alongside the County Mental Health building at 325 Columbia.  Unsurprisingly (certainly not to nearby residents, and likely Rob Perry as well), after hours of nonstop heavy rain overnight, another lake formed in the street, on the sidewalks and on properties, though it did not appear to be as deep as last year's lake. (In mid-August, I only saw and took pictures of the aftermath.)  This morning, in the pouring rain, in my flip flops standing in the middle of the street at the deepest/lowest point, the surface of the lake was nearly up to my knees, close to 18 inches.  

The State of Partition (and So Much More)? Not So Good!

As HUDseen reported two weeks ago in an article titled SINKHOLE CITY, a small hole appeared on South 3rd Street at Partition (we bicyclists keep an eye out for these things).  DPW soon got to the problem below and sometime last week they covered their excavation with asphalt.  Job done.