This is about Counter Clues (see
”
Bumpy Road,
”
May 19) asking about the hoses on the City streets.
Counter culture
This is about Counter Clues (see “Bumpy Road,” May 19) asking about the hoses on the City streets. Can you ask Don Dey or the Traffic Department in Gilroy, “What about the screws used to secure the hoses into the street?” I’m a cyclist who rides to work everyday and noticed those screws in the middle of the bike lanes. These screws must provide the hoses with enough tension to overcome aheavy SUV rolling across them. They cannot be safe for a bicycle tire to run over at all. What is the city’s responsibility? I have noticed many of the counter hoses with screws either in the bike lanes or left in the bike lane after removal. Running over a screw like that can literally rip a bicycle tire off the wheel causing a rider to be flailed into oncoming traffic. The screws stick up about 3/8 of an inch and are whitish in color.
Red Phone:
Dear Tired:
As you wish: Red Phone called Don Dey, the city’s traffic engineer, to bring up your concerns. Dey said he doesn’t believe that the way the ropes are installed is unsafe because they are secured this way all over the Bay Area and have been for the last 25 years. Bikers in San Jose and San Francisco ride over these ropes, which are installed by the same company as Gilroy’s traffic counters. The ropes and screws should be removed from Gilroy streets by the end of the next week, according to Dey. So, you won’t have to deal with the danger for much longer.
Bad sign
Hey Red Phone, there’s a stop sign at Ninth and Alexander streets that is entirely obscured by bushes. You can’t see the sign from the road to know to stop. This is a big hazard. Will you take care of this, Red Phone? I know you will.
Red Phone:
Dear Bush Whacker:
It’s not what the Red Phone can do for you, it’s what you can do for the Red Phone. After your call it rang Don Dey again to alert him of the unruly bushes. He called the complaint into the city’s operations department, which will go out to locate the problem and either trim the branches or notify the property owners to do so if what’s obscuring the sign is on private property. Done and done. But be sure to call back if it’s not.
