Peoria Pundit

I have many emails out demanding an explanation for press release, which I was sent at about 4:40 p.m. and opened a few minutes after 5 p.m.:

Subject: GREATER PEORIA SANITARY DISTRICT REPAIRSA:

Hamilton and Randolph

Hamilton and Crescent

The Greater Peoria Sanitary District will be working at the intersection of Hamilton and Randolph starting on Monday, April 6.  There will be parking restrictions on Hamilton, but traffic will be allowed to pass through the intersection.  Traffic traveling in both directions on Randolph, however, will be diverted from the intersection on to Hamilton.  The work at this intersection is expected to last 3 to 5 days.

After the work on Hamilton and Randolph is complete, then work will begin at the intersection of Hamilton and Crescent.  Travelers should expect lane shifts and restrictions on Hamilton, surrounding the intersection.  Traffic on Crescent will be diverted on to Hamilton at the intersection.  This work is expected to last an additional 3 to 5 days.

It sounded to me like I’m not going to be able to drive and park my car on Randolph where I live. There are times in the evening I already have to park a block from where I live.

But I took a flier and called city hall AFTER 5 p.m. and found that that I’ll be able to park and drive on Randolph. I just won’t be able to turn left at the intersection with Hamilton, just right. I almost never turn left on Hamilton.

I’m glad, but still pissed they didn’t explain well AND because they sent this out late Friday afternoon, which everyone and their mother knows is when you want to notify people in a way that limits the number of people who will find out.

From Peoria City Hall:

Regarding the continuing repair of sewers, below is a listing of sites that a contractor anticipates accessing starting next week for the purpose of performing the listed repairs.  As we spoke of in the past, assume that all work performed on residential roadways will involve road closures.  The descriptions are provided below:

Next week, an excavation-crew will begin or continue repairs at the sites listed below:

Repair 1866 – alley north of E. Forrest Hill Ave., b/ N. California Ave. and N. New York Ave.;

Repair 1837 – @ intersection of Randolph Ave. and Hamilton Blvd.;

Repair 1637 – @ intersection of Crescent Ave. and Hamilton Blvd.;

Repairs 1150, 1149 and 1148 – N. Bigelow St., b/ W. Nebraska Ave. and W. Republic Ave.;

Repair 1147 – N. Bigelow St., b/ W. Nebraska Ave. and W. McClure Ave.

Additionally, another crew will begin or continue repairs at the sites listed below:

Repair 1889 – alley off of Van Buren St., northwest of N. E. Jefferson Ave.;

Repair 1907 – alley b/ N.E. Jefferson Ave. and N.E. Madison Ave., southwest of Camblin Ave.;

Repair 1861 – Walnut St., b/ S.W. Washington St. and Water St.;

Repair 1862 – alley b/ S.W. Washington St. and Water St. and b/ Walnut St. and Bob Michel Bridge;

Repair 1343 – Sanger St., northwest of S.W. Washington St.;

Repair 1354 – Endres Ave., north of Edgebrook Dr.

From the city, more water company mischief:

FYI – Illinois American Water Company is performing an emergency repair on Crescent between Main and Hamilton. The street will be closed for the remainder of the day, but should be open by tomorrow morning.

Massive corruption and/or payoffs is  one explanation, I suppose, for the continued existence of a monster pothole on North North Street in front of Central High School.

Some background: On Christmas Eve, I hit this monster pothole that caused my front driver-side tire to immediately go flat.  It was several days later that I finally managed to get it fixed. Unfortunately, the guy I had fix it didn’t do it right and the damn tire nearly fell off, but that’s another story.

The city soon came out and “fixed” the hole, but they ignored a second, possibly worse hole a few feet down the road. Luckily, I learned to not trust the condition of this street, and managed to miss the second hole for the weeks-long period it was there.

I mean, it’s not like this pothole was in front of an IMPORTANT school or anything.

Eventually, THAT hole was filled.

But guess what made a second appearance? You’re right, the ORIGINAL hole. Just as wide, just as deep. In fact, it’s probably worse now.

So it got me to wondering. Certainly, the people who fix out streets cannot POSSIBLY be that incompetent. So what’s the cause? Do they WANT people to hit potholes like this? Do they want people to have to pay money they really cannot afford to keep their cars operating for the privilege of driving to work to keep pay for the car repairs they need to have a car capable of driving to work on crappy city roads?

Forgive me for the rant. But when the city in which I live seems unable to provide essential services like street repair, I start getting cranky.

(Press release from Peoria City Hall)

The City of Peoria has hired a contractor to mill and pave Alta Road from Allen Road to Trails Edge. The contractor is scheduled to do the milling on Thursday afternoon, 9/18/2008. There will be short delays while the milling is being completed. The contractor plans to overlay Alta Road on Friday, 9/19/2008. While the paving is being done light traffic will be detoured around Alta Road to First Street in Alta. Trucks will not be allowed on First Street. Temporary stop signs will be placed at the intersection of First Street and Allen Road. The delays on Allen Road should be minor and temporary.

Links via the Peoria Journal Star:

• Here’s some discussion of traffic along West Main Street in the West Bluff. Hopefully, all these traffic studies will provide details that will replace all the anecdotal evidence that the street needs to be narrowed. I’m 45 years old and I can’t recall a time when West Main wasn’t congested. It’s certainly not as congested on Friday and Saturday nights as it was in my youth, when teens from four different counties converged to “cruise Main.” As someone who lives in the area, I don’t want to see traffic diverted onto the side streets, rather than onto Interstate 74. Frankly, I don’t buy into the contention that folks will naturally start using the interstate to avoid driving on West Main. There are instances in which it’s quicker, but easier? Interstate driving is different than driving on city streets, and I am one of those people who would rather spend 15 minutes on city roads than 7 or ten on an interstate.
• You know all these wonderful old houses that everyone wants to preserve? Well, their wonderful old lead pipes and wonderful old lead paint chips are poisoning Peoria’s children. Scientists are concluding that there is no safe level of lead. But don’t worry. Peoria’s powers-that-be for decades successfully ignored the disease-causing human feces the city was pumping into the Illinois River. No doubt everyone in a position to try to fix this problem will explain this away as a statistical fluke.
• The city has identified who is responsible for the shooting death of former Manual track star Teddy Jackson. Apparently, it was the building. The structure exerted a form of mind control on a yet-unidentified person, forcing him to obtain two handguns and fire them into a crowd. The wise and all-knowing Peoria City Hall bureaucracy, knowing full well the powers this evil structure possesses, denied it a dance hall license. But this evil building would not be denied, and it used it’s powers to find a loophole that allowed it to be rented out for events.

(press release)

Road construction is scheduled to start on Monday, September 8, 2008, at the intersection of Moss Avenue and University Street/MacArthur Highway in the City of Peoria. Driving lanes will be reduced to one lane in each direction while work is being performed for the reinstallation of traffic signals and concrete replacement work at this intersection. Please reduce speeds while traveling through this intersection.

Work is expected to last for approximately two months. If you have any question, please contact the City of Peoria Traffic Engineering Division at 494-8802.

This sort of thing has always ticked me off.

I was getting gasoline at the neighborhood station the other day, and before I started pumping, I noticed this:

Thirty seconds later, I snapped this picture:

Look at the traffic lights in both photos. They are green. So why didn’t the driver proceed through the intersection? Because he wasn’t stopped at the intersection. He was parked. The UPS driver was making a delivery. He pulled up to a spot in front of a store, stopped, got out and walked inside. I have no idea how many times the lights changed.

This is at the corner of West Main and Sheridan, a busy intersection, and one that often sees traffic accidents. And this happened in the early- to mid-afternoon, just as rush hour traffic was starting to heat up.

And note that there are empty parking spaces along Sheridan, had the driver bothered to turn the corner.

Now, imagine you are an ordinary citizen, and you decide to park your car in a traffic lane at a busy intersection while you run inside a local business. Even if it’s for less than one minute, you are going to get a ticket if a traffic cop sees you.

But things like this happen all the time in Peoria. It’s no common, those of us don’t drive professionally don’t even take note of it anymore.

The following are places I have seen delivery trucks use traffic lanes as their personal parking spaces:

• In the turning lane that carries west-bound Forest Hill traffic onto north-bound University, ignoring a parking lot.
• In front of a private house on North University north of War Memorial Drive, ignoring an empty driveway.
• In front of a motel on North Knoxville near East Illinois, a few feet away from the entrance of the parking lot.
• In the middle of the driving lane on North East Randolph, right next to a parked lane, preventing traffic from getting through, either way.

There’s no way this goes on unless there’s an understanding between the City of Peoria and the delivery companies. Now, I can understand the need to be lenient when there’s no place to park the truck while making a delivery. But in each incident, there was a place to park other than the middle of the roadway. But these drivers have learned they can get away with it. So they do it.

And why not? It helps the drivers’ work stats when they don’t have to walk as far and don’t have to wait for traffic to pass to pull out of a parking lot. This way, they just get in their truck and drive off. Must be nice. The fact that it creates additional delays for ordinary commuters on Peoria’s congested streets is irrelevant to them.

So the next time you complain about a parking ticket, and they tell you that the law applies to everyone, point them to this post, and tell them there’s evidence to the contrary.

In fact, I challenge other Peoria bloggers, commenters and readers to start carrying digital cameras with them in their cars to snap pictures of these scofflaws.

(press release)

The outside lanes of both northbound and southbound Sterling Avenue will be closed between Forrest Hill Avenue and Gilbert Avenue for approximately one week starting Monday, August 18th.  Illinois American Water Company will be working on their utility services.  Please take an alternate route to avoid any delays.