Eye on the Street
Decatur Metro | October 30, 2013
West Ponce de Leon Ave at Commerce Drive (photo courtesy of Gwyneth)
West Ponce de Leon Ave at Commerce Drive (photo courtesy of Gwyneth)
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that’s some good driving there, Lou.
He probably shouldn’t have taken so much cough syrup this morning.
Stripes fan are you Keith? Such a great opening scene
Yup!
Too easy! Share the sidewalk
The next thing would have been for the tie-downs to come off and the pipes to start rolling off.
BTW, is that the famous cardboard box lying there at the base of the pole?
Yep Steve. It sure is.
OMG that lawless cyclist is riding on the sidewalk!
Without a helmet.
I can only assume there’s not a baby stroller under that right rear tire. And, assuming there’s not one, just lucky.
When was this taken? How did the truck get back off the curb? It looks like moving either forward or backward takes out the street pole and pedestrian signal? And what are those concrete things on the truck?
Anything anyone needs to know about last night’s domestic assault/murder on Cambridge other than it sounds real sad and it occurred in CITY of Decatur, not peri-Decatur?
there’s an article on the front page of the AJC. very sad.
Sad, indeed. Sounds like an older couple, at least the victim was, and sounds like a domestic situation. Police will tell you they dread domestic-related calls more than any other. And, think of the firefighters who answered the initial medical call when they encountered the scene.
First homicide (or “alleged” homicide) in COD in 2 1/2 years.
The victim is a pillar of the Cambridge Ave neighborhood and known to generations of Decatur kids as the nice lady who sold candy and snacks at Decatur Rec athletic events at the Rec Center and Oakhurst Park. This is a terrible and tragic loss for our town, her neighbors and family.
Oh yes, now I know who she is–nice lady. Sad news.
Turning the steering wheel hard to the right and backing up will save the pole.
AHID – I took the photo Friday afternoon. See that infamous cardboard box by the pole? The truck was carrying concrete pipes, possibly for the 315 W PdL construction project.
The truck backed up a little then pulled forward, smashing a covering to one of the bolts at the bottom of the pole and breaking the pedestrian signal button.
I thought it was a bit implausible that the box had lasted a whole week in one location! Now I remember that you reported this truck/curb/pole incident right after the box sighting.
“smashing a covering to one of the bolts at the bottom of the pole and breaking the pedestrian signal button”
I would assume that someone reported the thing to DeKalb traffic engineering so that the trucker would be paying for repairs.
I reported it to City of Decatur engineering and attached the photos. I know that the city does not handle the traffic lights, but I figured (1) they’d get a better response from the county than I would and (2) they can work with the construction manager at 315 WPdL to work to prevent this from happening again, assuming that this truck was headed there.
Where is Barney Fife on his motorcycle when you need him? Obviously he should ticket the two wheeled menace.
Rather than pipe fittings, these are pipes not fitting.
Thanks G for the pic and DM posters for the funny comments. Everybody had a good laugh, or at least a smile,except maybe the truck driver, the people behind him, and the nearby business owners. I guess the truck driver didn’t get the memo that Decatur emphasizes walkability over driverability. It’s kinda like someone like myself, who mistakenly receive an evite to one of the cool progressive parties. I walk in, ask for a cold Co-Cola, and move on to a crowd of drop dead gorgeous Decaturites, and someone is finishing a joke with the punch line, “…You can keep the health insurance you like and prices will go down by $2,500!” And everybody falls out laughing.
For some in Decatur, not so funny.
I feel someone’s blood pressure rising. Before you have a stroke, take some Resperate and read on.
Remember when you were told that traffic calming measures would encourage people to bypass Decatur? Well, just like the unintended consequences of Obamacare, where millions will lose their health insurance and end up paying higher premiums for worthless policies, the photo shows the consequences of walkability. A few drivers might bypass Decatur but more likely, they will take their chances and try to squeeze through an intersection like this one, or cut through neighborhoods like Ponce Place, Glendale or others. And have you considered for a moment what will happen when an emergency vehicle has to navigate the Commerce/Church Street area when all the so called improvements are put in place? And in five years, when citizens show up to complain at a commission or school board meeting (same problem for both governments), demanding “Do Something” but are told, “This was financed by outside revenue. We’ll have to raise your taxes again to fix it” how miserable we will be.
Are there alternatives to this? I hope so. I hope that one or two commissioners and or board members will realize that we don’t have a tax problem in Decatur. Raising revenue has never been the problem. The problem is our spending and the belief that our governments can create the perfect community
Right, Chris. Because building communities so that 18-wheelers can easily navigate, as apposed to a community that is built for people (yes, they are generally mutually exclusive) is a great strategy. Good one. All this “building-a-city-for-people-over-big-metal-machines” who-ee has gotten Decatur nowhere over the past 30 years. We’ve really fallen off the map since we decided to become so “walkable” and “pedestrian friendly.” Tell us more.
I knew this was Obama’s fault. In fact, I saw him jump out of the truck and run down Commerce…