This too is Yonkers– By Eric W. Schoen
Saving the Hutchinson River Parkway from bridge strikes. Walmart closing downtown White Plains location. School residency checks. Busy week!
Saving the Hutch from Any More Bridge Strikes
It’s become a joke. Everyday we wake up and yet another truck has illegally entered our regions parkways and hit bridges too low for them to pass under causing mayhem on the roadway. Most of the time it’s the King Street overpass in Rye Brook but quite often the hits are on the bridges on the Hutchinson River Parkway in the Mount Vernon area.
I am firmly convinced that one day one of these trucks is going to do so much damage to the bridge that the bridge will fall down. Do you realize how much these bridge hits are costing us. Number 1 cost is the money lost in time and wages for those stuck in their cars when traffic is stopped. Number 2 cost is for sending inspectors out to check the bridge to make sure the impact of the truck hit did not compromise the bridge. Then you have costs associated to emergency services like police, fire and EMS who must respond to direct traffic, deal with spillage issues and those injured. Next is clean-up costs.
I am sure there are more costs I am missing, but I hope the insurance company for the trucker is paying the bills. This happens so frequently that you would think the insurers hit by these costs would band together and do something to stop this mess.
I saw Ant-Man and the Wasp over the weekend and thought maybe they could help stop these bridge hits. We are at in a crisis situation here. We have actually been in crisis for years and the more that our government does to attempt to correct the problem the worse it gets.
To his credit, County Executive George Latimer recently assembled a task force to come up with solutions. Additional dramatic signage north of the Ridge St. Bridge, before the King St. Bridge, as an added method of alerting trucks to the impending low clearance at King Street.An Education/Information Program for Truckers by the Trucking Assn. of New York to alert truckers to the low clearance reality of NYS/Westchester parkways. Outreach to major mapping solution software companies to encourage their inclusion of bridge clearance information in their systems.
County Police/NYS DoT to provide detailed stats to more clearly identify the incidence of bridge strikes by parkway, by bridge and direction of travel, time of day, and other important metrics. “Headbanger”/ Height Barrier Placement at A test case location to test the effectiveness of the device and any problems that may be created by their installation. Real-time Communication of Laser Intercepts from the five existing laser intercepts at entrances to the Hutch currently sent in real time by NYS DoT to the County Public Safety Department will also be sent to local police in Rye Brook and Scarsdale, to allow those departments to potentially respond immediately to a possible bridge strike before they occur.
Some good ideas here. Certainly better than painting the roadways themselves with warning signs. I’ve never driven a truck but it looks to me like the drivers are so high up they would never see the painted signs in time to stop.
The New York State Department of Transportation doesn’t like them, but as the good County Executive points out in his report, ‘We, The People’ believe Headbanger/Height Barrier Placement are the only way to stop bridge strikes. Make it like a street light. When the trucker hits the horizontal poll or comes close, he or she is going to have a big wake up call. If he or she hits the poll, the truck will be damaged. He or she will back up. If they don’t, we call that person a schmuck. They should not be driving a matchbox car yet alone a tractor trailer!
If that doesn’t work, maybe we do need Ant-Man and the Wasp. Or your choice of superhero. Full time police officer? Too expensive. And I would not, at that point want to risk their safety!
Walmart Says Goodbye, Temporarily to White Plains
I love Walmart. Good prices, new products, shelves well stocked. But I knew from the start that the Walmart in the old Sears Building in White Plains was not going to work.
#1? That meshugah parking lot with the windy road going up and coming down. My mom hated it when it was Sears. That entrance is a creature from the 60’s or 70’s that needs to be replaced.
#2? OY that series of 8 elevators to get from parking to the store. I’m surprised that over the years no one got seriously injured running to catch the elevator. Why no one ever thought to break the elevators into 2 groups with separate controls for each bank of 4 elevators I’ll never know. Only olympic gymnasts can catch an elevator in that structure on the first try.
#3 Walmart in America is a free standing store. You explore the vastness of the store, fill your cart, checkout and roll out to the parking lot. Walmart shoppers don’t have to deal with #1 or #2 above after they make their purchases.
Attention Walmart Shoppers and Company! Yonkers welcomes you. Right where Target was supposed to be next to Stew Leonard’s, Costco and Home Depot! I can smell the hot baked goodies coming out of the Walmart oven to be whisked off the shelves!
School Residency Checks
Why should a school district pay to educate students who do not live or have not established proper residency in their district? What’s wrong with periodic checks to make sure students are legally attending school in the correct district.
The State Education Commissioner recently stopped the reregistration of students attending New Rochelle Public Schools. Last year Mount Vernon reregistered students without any problems, so what’s the big deal about doing the same thing in districts throughout New York State.
Education is expensive and you and I, already hit with high taxes only should pay for those students who belong attending school in our respective districts. We all know people attending school in our district who reside outside the district. You know the wealthier districts like Scarsdale and Bronxville due extensive vetting of students to make sure they legally reside in their respective districts. State law should provide for periodic residency checks. Somethings up when mail sent to a family supposedly living in a school district is returned!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM or download the SIMPLE RADIO app for free from the APP STORE.
