Cyclists: Can you help the City fix bad road spots? (CYCM ‘08 Citizen Post)
Here’s a blog post from City Council Member Joan Lowenstein asking for help making the roads safer for cyclists:
Riding Ann Arbor’s streets on a bicycle, you certainly see where some of the problem areas are with our streets. This has been a particularly hard winter and the city council has actually had to appropriate more money for fixing potholes and other road problems. I am going to try to have the city set up a place on the website where cyclists can post pieces about areas that they find very troublesome. For example, I had to ride down to S. State Street yesterday and there’s a really bad spot under the bridge, just north of Stimson. Would others be willing to be “eyes and ears” for our under-staffed city road crews?
Joan Lowenstein
City Councilmember
Joan, I’d gladly report any bad spots I come across, as I’m sure other cyclists would. I’m curious, though, as to the reason for our city road crews being under staffed. Could you explain briefly?
Comment by Steve Bean — May 22, 2008 @ 3:04 pmSure, but we need a better way to report it than a phone number. An email address, web page form, or a hook into the new reporting system I used to order a compost can would all be much better. It’s darned near impossible to describe some of the locations of problems, and you inevitably get someone who doesn’t have the first clue where you’re talking about. It would be much easier to send a link to a google map with the location.
Comment by Ken Clark — May 22, 2008 @ 3:07 pmPackard Rd Inbound: the stretch between the entrance to Buhr Park and the intersection
Comment by Ana Iacob — May 22, 2008 @ 3:10 pmwith
Stone School is so bad that I changed my route.
Would that city website page for reporting bad stretches of road be coordinated with the 99HOLES phone number so we don’t end up with 2 lists?
Comment by Phillip Farber — May 22, 2008 @ 4:16 pmSteve, to create efficiencies the city doesn’t have separate employees for each job that has to be done. For instance, there are no employees devoted solely to fixing potholes. Employees have to do multiple jobs and there are crews who go out and may have a number of different jobs in one day. Since potholes are a huge problem right now because of the terrible winter, there just aren’t enough people to go around and both identify and fix all the problems quickly.
Comment by Joan Lowenstein — May 23, 2008 @ 11:29 amThanks, Joan. Sounds more like they’re temporarily overwhelmed with seasonal work rather than under-staffed.
I think the idea for a web site might be useful to some, but I’m far more likely to have my cell phone with me on my bike than my computer (let alone wireless access), so I’d make the phone number a higher priority. In either case I’d need to note the nearest address and the relative location of the pothole (including the traffic lane.) Online maps don’t go to the necessary level of detail, so I don’t know how it would work. And I wouldn’t need to learn anything new to make a phone call.
Comment by Steve Bean — May 26, 2008 @ 5:35 pmanother street in need for repairs: Tacoma, between Georgetown Blvd and Stone School.
Comment by Ana Iacob — June 4, 2008 @ 9:43 amI second Ana’s nomination of Packard/Eisenhower near the merge (W of Buhr Park and Packard E. of Stone School).
In the westbound lanes, the wide cracks and potholes on the right side of the travel lane can easily trap a wheel and cause a crash. In the eastbound lanes, the damaged pavement immediately after the intersection pushes cyclists out into the lane where merging/turning traffic doesn’t expect a cyclist.
Offhand, this is one of the worst (i.e. the damage makes it dangerous) stretches of pavement I can think of in AA. It’s also one of the very few E-W connections to AA Twp and Ypsi… patching would reduce the danger to cyclists, but it’s sorely in need of a more permanent fix to the pavement condition, especially given the traffic volume.
Comment by Andy H. — June 8, 2008 @ 10:58 amNorth Main St. is beating the *&^% out of my bike! They patched *some* of the holes last month - but all that means is now there are ragged bumps to deal with as well as the remaining holes and cracks. North and southbound are in need of some serious help, downtown all the way to Huron River Drive. My headset is actually messed up from biking this road everyday!
Comment by Bruce W. — June 19, 2008 @ 7:46 am