1/12/2005

B I Roads

Has anyone noticed how the edges of the roads have begun to look like they did when John Littlefield was running the State Road crew? It is nice to see the stone walls again. But once you leave the grass and get to the asphalt it is a different story. Go for a nice slow walk along the Neck road and keep an eye on the very edge. You will see that the edges are all beginning to crumble and that there are long cracks radiating out toward the center of the road. In addition there are lots of small holes in the travel lane that are bout the size of a baseball and up. These are sure to develop into good sized potholes over time. Right now would be a good time for them to be filled and all the cracks resealed as they were a few years ago. But who is it that is going to do that? As I understood it at the time of all the discussions between us and the State, they would be the ones to do those things. How does the Town get them to move on their commitment? Just submit a letter of request for action? More likely, it will become an ongoing and very lengthy process before any action will result! When the State comes to refurbish High Street, is it going to be one truck full of asphalt at a time, or are they going to set up a portable plant as they did back in the seventies? Very doubtful on the plant scenario.
The roads here on the Island were never built with the thought in mind of the type and amount of traffic that they now endure. The base for all of them is mostly dirt and small grain sand. Further along in time, as more and more of these big trailer trucks loaded to the gills traverse the roads, they will begin to break down faster and faster. Please don't hold your breath while waiting for the State to jump right on their commitment and do a credible job of reconstruction! Everett

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice idea Everett! I remain anonymous but let me be the first to respond in favor of everything you have said. Roads... funny how the Council agreed hap-hazardly to a State contract that should have been spelled out to the n'th degree (especially when you deal with the our State). They certainly scrutinized the proposal for affordable housing at the last meeting thanks to the efforts of Bob Smith (who quickly made it apparent he has an axe to grind). He may have single handedly jeapordize the entire project and may very well have 20 families without homes! I'm getting the impression that there is a 'them' mentality when the 'upper crust' has input on what and how the project should be done, once you have your own piece of the pie screw the rest. Such a shame. If the irreverant council and town manager put as much forethought and effort in the road contract as they have in bashing the housing project, maybe the roads wouldn't be part of the ever growing mountain of mismanagment.

As for fiscal responsibility... lets just say the disassembly of the finance department has been and will be damaging to the Town for some time until someone competent takes the helm... the newest addition may have the smarts but does what about the gumption to tell the town manager things have been done wrong for the past 5 years. Funny how we pay an outrageous salary for a manager that has overspent every year since appointed and a lousy finance director which took to long to get ride of...

Everett, there is so much to say that you may have created a monster.... again I say, NICE IDEA.

Till next time

Anonymous said...

Everett,
Read your letter about the Town Roads.
That doggone gang are exposing the walls all right! but they don't know nothin'.

They cut down all the sweet peas, rose bushes, and the iris' and the grapes. There isn't a peach tree left on Old Town Road.
I can't find a place where there are enough Black Eyed Susans to make up a bunch.

Few years back they cut down all the wild asparagus up to Linus'.
Shame on them fools.
That gang they don't know nothin!

You and I, we can rememeber the cows keeping the walls cleared.
Now all I can see from up here ,are those huge damn houses polluting the land. Empty all winter!
You gotta know there's something wrong inside those peoples souls to build such big houses and no time to spend in them!.
While most people who live here struggle to make a buck!
It ain't right.

The whole gang they're Darn Fools!

I sure miss Old John too, Everett.
Now you keep up the fight.
I got my eye on you.

Love,
Thelma

Anonymous said...

hmmmm
Did you ever think the problem with B.I.is that there is TOO MUCH money out here and not enough? Money flushes out all the iconoclasts, and leaves us with a bunch of clOnes.
People have such an investment in fostering the grudges they hold that they frequently forget what was the cause of the disagreement and expend copious amounts
of emotional energy in the useless maintenance of these feuds.

I will continue striding down the road less traveled, no matter how decrepit it's CONdition.

Anonymous said...

Clearing the walls is great and they look wondrful but do they have to put the debris in the fields that are used for hay?


Signed :

The hungry cows

Anonymous said...

There is one peach tree left on Old Town Road, but I'm not telling you where!

Anonymous said...

As far as what to do about the state roads, maybe Bob Smith should talk to the people in Providence. I hear he lives there.

Anonymous said...

Hi all, this in response to the person who pointed out that Bob Smith lives in Providence. What the hell is up with that? I thought he ran for office HERE on BI to work for US! Is he maybe angling to become our next paid lobbyist? I don't know about everyone else but the idea of an absentee council person is kind of abhorrent to me. If you are NOT going to live here on the Island, go run for an office in the town you do live in. Come on Bob, either move back to the Island or resign from the council and let someone who lives here have the job! TTFN Everett

Anonymous said...

Everett,
This Bob Smith things deserves a blog of its own. I think a lot of our registered voters don't have a clue who lives here. They register here, doesn't mean they actually live here all year, like Mr. Smith. I also think the democrats wanted to vote for a democrat soo badly, they didn't even ask "who the heck is this Robert Ellis Smith guy anyway?"
It's unfortunate we are so desperate for people to run for office, that it doesn't even matter who gets elected.
A-newbie-mouse

Anonymous said...

PS Did you all read the Times article where Mr Smith said he didn't vote on the housing grant proposal because he hadn't read it yet?!? Isn't that his job and responsiblity???? Maybe he should read it on the ferry, while he's commuting to Town Council meetings. I hope his doen't submarine this housing project because he's got his, or because he's an anti-Maryjaner. I don't care if you like her or not. It's not about her. It's about getting a roof over the heads of the people that will fix Mr. Smith's car, repair his roof, pump his gas, sell him his groceries, sell him his ticket on the ferry, sort his mail, deliver his gas and oil, lend out his book at the library and teach his children at the school. Maybe he thinks all these people can commute, like he does.
A-Newbie-Mouse

Anonymous said...

Funny that no one minded when Dick Kiley was first warden and lived on the mainland, in another state!

Everett said...

Ah but they did! Mind about Dick Kiley not living on the Island while a councillor that is. I used to bust his tushy about it on a regular basis. There was no way he was ever going to move back here full time though. It was the same knee jerk reaction that got RES elected this time. Oh my god, we have to elect a Dem or the Island is going to self destruct! Well, onward and upward and we'll see where this all goes TTFN Everett

Anonymous said...

How much time does he spend with his two boys! HE does have two older boys on the mainland that are in their thirties I think. Does he think or care if his children will be able to buy or rent a house on the Island.
The road are terrible! They need to remove more of the snow on the corners before someone gets hurt and the sidewalks. They plowed the snow on them they sould be responsible for removing it!!!