Single issue voter

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Hello,

Can someone tell me who caters least to families, children, and "no turn between 7-9 a.m." signs in the upcoming election?

Thanks!

Comments

Re: Um...

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Did mean to falsely frame and implicate my question, or is it just a hobby? :)

I never said a thing about public school. Crossing guards should definitely be put to sleep, no pun intended.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

It's the accusation of "mollycoddling" I don't understand.

Besides crossing guards, how else does Somerville "mollycoddle" children?

I'm glad some children have the luxury of walking to school, in which case, I have to condone the use of crossing guards to help them.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd prefer my kid to learn how to push a button and look both ways. You save money in the long term and let the kids help themselves. It's win-win.

The other big gripe are the rapidly populating "no left turn 3-7 monday to saturday" signs. And I was told, at least by an officer, that they are targeted towards child safety.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd prefer my kid to learn how to push a button and look both ways.

I think you might be working on the somewhat Utopian assumption it's the kids that are the problem, and not idiot drivers. Living as I do near an elementary school and observing the joyous clusterfuck that is the Teele Square intersection every morning, I'm amazed they aren't armed with bazookas by now.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm near Teele square frequently. People still stop at reds, even if sometimes you have to squeeze inbetween cars.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I've nearly been run over three times, with a Walk signal all three times, in the past year. Generally it's some asshole on his cell phone ripping up Broadway. Doesn't happen often, but it happens enough.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Broadway is a weird one. I'm on it constantly -- it can be hard to see around trucks, honestly, and the walkways extend a foot or three past visibility lines.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's really used in ways it shouldn't be.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd prefer my kid to learn how to push a button and look both ways.

And then there are the drivers who don't stop for uncontrolled (no walk/don't walk lights) crosswalks, no matter how many people are in them ...

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

No one wants poor drivers dealt with more than myself. They ruin it for the rest of us by forcing legislators to make laws based on the very lowest common denominator.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

at least you're an equal opportunity hater ... now, while I get that not everyone sees it, try looking at the pearl st/mcgrath highway intersection, during rush hour, when someone heading westbound on pearl decides they want to turn left into the gas station, but can't, because the eastbound pearl st left hand lane is bumper to bumper, because of someone making the left ONTO mcgrath northbound ... that gas station causes the gridlock, but, it's a useless sign?

[ron_newman]

This strikes me as a pretty minor annoyance. People are going slowly enough that this won't cause any accidents.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

No accidents, you're right.

It does, however, cause a gridlock on a major artery.

when pearl st locks because of eastbound left turns having to yield to the now stopped westbound traffic, waiting for the numbskull who can't make the left turn into the gas station, because the eastbound lane is full with no gaps, because the westbound lane has right of way over the eastbound left hand turn ...

And now the light has changed, and mcgrath has pearl st traffic stuck in the middle of it, because Massachusetts won't enact don't block the box laws with fines.

That's why that turn is illegal.

[ron_newman]

I'd personally like to see McGrath re-designed back into the parkway it was orignally built as. If you continue up Fellsway into Medford and Melrose, you'll see what it should look like.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

that'll never happen now that's it's become a major artery.

what exactly is your definition of a parkway, so we're working off the same terms?

[ron_newman]

A road with trees planted in the median and on either side, easily crossed by pedestrians, not fenced in the middle. Like Fellsway in Medford. That's the same road as McGrath, so whatever works there will work equally as well in Somerville.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

That could happen I guess.

To actually put trees in the median on that part of mcgrath (wellington circle to medford/highland) would require losing lanes of traffic, though, wouldn't it?

[ron_newman]

Probably, but I don't think you need them, since you don't have them up in Medford.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Yes, but that part of the fellsway in medford doesn't have the volume due to 16 and 60 feeding to 93, and what it has it loses at wellington circle, and at 93.

Whereas mcgrath picks up that volume from broadway, pearl, and highland/medford, AND from those who haven't left 28 yet.

28 in Medford, IMO isn't the huge artery it is after you go under 93 and pass by foss park.

I live in ten hills, now, used to live in the gilman square triangle, and my g/f used to live off of ball square - I've seen the volume on mcgrath every morning, and it's ridiculous.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I have to agree, I think getting rid of lanes is a poor choice.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Do you have any information about the former configuration of McGrath? I'm not sure it used to be a parkway.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I personally would like to see more ramp/road development in these problem spots. I'm not saying we should get rid of every sign, either.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

where are you going to put a ramp or road in at this intersection? (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=42.386553,-71.090676&spn=0.001238,0.002414&t=h&z=19)