Oyster Round Up!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more and more!
No Bump in the Road for East Anchorage
Mayor Dan Sullivan strikes again. East Anchorage has long had traffic problems which include having a lot of kids, and a lot of straight flat roads where people tend to drive too fast. A 5-year old girl was recently the victim of an accident that could have easily been avoided by “traffic calming” also known as a speed bump. There are speed bumps all over town. I drove over three of them just yesterday. And now Northeast Anchorage has $350,000 to spend on speed bumps to make sure that what happened to that little girl doesn’t happen to any other kid. It came from the legislature at the behest of community councils and concerned citizens, and even escaped the red veto pen of Governor Sean Parnell. And there was much rejoicing… or so we thought. But Mayor Dan Sullivan refuses to actually SPEND the money. I’m not kidding. If you want to speak up and tell the mayor you’d actually like him to make your community safer with money he already HAS, come to the Anchorage Assembly meeting at the Loussac Library tomorrow (Tuesday) and speak to the Assembly at 6:30pm. And in case you don’t have it on your speed dial yet, the Mayor’s number is 343-7100.
Close Encounters of the Turd Kind
One of The Mudflats’ favorite “tweethearts” in the Twitterverse is O’TooleFan. He is also a fellow lover of – the caper. This was a good one.
I never thought I’d meet Karl Rove, let alone punk him. For my money there was a better chance of him answering a subpoena than coming anywhere near me. But life is funny. Turds have a way of showing up in the strangest places (See Dick Cheney).
I was blocked by Karl Rove on twitter months ago, believe it or not. Getting blocked by Rove is kind of like Nixon telling you that you suck. You know you’ve done something right. So when I heard Karl was coming to town to our local Books a Million for his Crook Signing, I leapt at the chance to be the turd in his drink, even if I had to buy his book.
Click the link to read the whole story and see the picture and video. O’TooleFan… we bow.
Remember when Glen Beck said he’d never be Sarah Palin’s running mate, and that she should stay in the kitchen and stop her yapping? Well apparently, he doesn’t mind if she comes out of the kitchen to sit at the breakfast table for money. I speak of yet another charity auction that was held, auctioning off the privilege of sitting down to breakfast with both Glen Beck and Sarah Palin. I don’t know how much I’d pay to NOT have to eat a meal with Glen Beck and Sarah Palin, but it might approach the $65,000 that ‘buckeye1′ spent to share the table.
We’re #5!
Alaska has all kinds of horrible statistics about being #1. From accidental deaths, to all kinds of social ills… but today let’s celebrate being #5!
For the third consecutive year, Alaska ranked in the top five in the nation in volunteerism according to the “Volunteering in America 2010” report, which was released by the Corporation for National & Community Service last week.Alaska ranked fifth in volunteerism in 2009, after placing fourth in the two prior years. In the period from 2007-2009, 37.3% of Alaskans (187,000) gave volunteer time, well above the national average of 27%. Utah residents ranked first at 44.2%, followed by Iowa (37.8%), Minnesota (37.5%) and Nebraska (37.4%) residents, respectively.
Alaska ranked even higher in volunteer hours per citizen average, placing second with 59.2 hours of volunteer service per citizen each year, totaling 29.8 million hours of service and equating to an economic contribution of $622 million of service per year. Utah ranked first with 86.9 hours of volunteer service per citizen.
The Voice of Wally
The late Governor Walter J. Hickel still affects Alaska politics from the great beyond. Discussions of the “owner state” have been revived, and the things that Hickel stood for have received new life in public discourse. He’ll even appear in political ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker with the permission and endorsement of Hickel’s widow Ermalee. Signs for Bill Walker are springing up all over the state. I’ve spotted them all over Anchorage and dotting the highway all the way to Homer. Walker is running against Sean Parnell and Ralph Samuels for the GOP nomination.
It’s a sad day at the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward. Saturday, they lost a decade-long resident – Kiska the Steller Sea Lion and her unborn pup. She seemed to be healthy and well before her death Saturday which appeared to observers like a sudden seizure.
“Kiska’s loss lays heavy on our minds and in our hearts. She will be greatly missed by all of our staff and visitors who have grown to know and love her.” said Dr. Ian Dutton, Alaska SeaLife Center President & CEO.
I just have to say that the volunteerism statistic is AWESOME!! Your state is a role model, AKM!
Speaking of volunteers, 7 volunteers from Alaska Mountain Rescue Group (plus one Alaska State Trooper helicopter) rescued 2 hikers from a steep snow/ice slope near the top of Flattop Monday afternoon. Sullivan cut the paid Fire Department rescue team, but unpaid AMRG volunteers have been rescuing people for 49 years.
Thanks for all you do!
…it’s those who give of themselves , without thought of thanks or reward, who are the REAL Americans…. Thanks, Slip, and to all the others who give….
Stay in the kitchen and stop yer yapping
Isn’t Beck typical of the reactionary white male Republican voter who would, presumably, be expected to vote for Palin in a presidential primary simply because she used to be “the hottest Governor”?
O.K., he could be forgiven for wishing she would stop her yapping!
I hope buckeye1 is not alumni of Ohio State U. It would be an embarressment to my school and it wouldn’t say much about where I got my degree. Please, pleeeeeeeaaaaase, pleeeeeeaaaaase, say their not from O.S.U. I don’t care if their from Ohio, but please tell me he didn’t go to O.S.U.
We have a small town in Arizona called Buckeye. Maybe he/she is a McCain supporter.
How can the mayor refuse to spend funds appropriated from legislators and the governor that are designated for a specific purpose? Does he even have a good reason?
Apparently it would require a lot of “engineering”. No, it doesn’t make sense to me either. We’re all prepared to drill in the Arctic Ocean… but a speed bump? Yikes… it’s a little risky.
Sounds like he should be made into a speed bump. He’s got as much sense as one.
I wonder just how much of the $$$ that Beck and $arah raised actually went to the charity. Two crazy grifters claiming to raise money for a charitable cause raises many red flags for me. Sean Hannity must be pizzed he wasn’t in on it.
“I wonder just how much of the $$$ that Beck and $arah raised actually went to the charity.”
Oh my, you’re just too cute! I would imagine an awful lot of it went to Bump-its and poison ink pens.
Okay, but seriously–if you actually go and look at charities and how they distribute the monies, it can be disheartening. But this site is pretty good. So is the combined federal campaign for that information.
http://www.charitywatch.org
Regarding the volunteerism- I know that Senator Mark Begich, was a big volunteer on many community projects and sat on various boards. He was on the board of Assets, an organization that helps the disabled, and I think he helped start Youth Court. However, I haven’t a clue if Mayor Dan or what’s her name have ever given their time to help the needy or other community endeavors.
Totally OT…or maybe not:
One of the sites I’m banned from (but still get mass emailings from) has some *more than usual* ugly on it today. (Trust me, when I say “more than usual” ugly, I mean u . g . l . y — physical harm u . g . l . y.
I suspect the site is monitored, but on the off-chance that its snuck in under the radar of those charged with monitoring the, shall we say, ‘more angry’, in our society, I was wondering if any ‘flatter knows where the currently elevated rhetoric/ activity should be reported? thanks, beth.
The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks this stuff.
Homeland Security or FBI might give a sh@t now, if they are rising to the level of domestic terrorists.
Thanks, Lilibart and the problem child — I’ll try to contact each of them tomorrow to make sure *someone* is keeping the site under watchfull eyes/in their spotlight.
Y’know, it’s one thing to ‘hear’, second hand, about the whackadoodles who’re advocating a violent overthrow of this government [and to 'hear' about the names they call POTUS and the administration], but its another thing, entirely, to be considered one of ‘them’ and to get emails/links to messages that’re blatantly calling for ugly, ugly, ugly. Along with feeling disgusted and alarmed, I feel oddly ‘dirty’ that I’ve been exposed to that ugly. beth.
Congratulations on being big volunteers, AK. With all your problems, you need volunteerism. Dan Sullivan is an *idiot.* I know we usually reserve that epithet for Scarah, but if the shoe fits … (even when it’s not a naughty monkey).
Wow, OToolefan, well done. In your spirit I took the batch of $Palin 2011 calendars at SmallMart and put them face down on the bottom shelf. Wish I could have put them in the steer manure where they really belong.
Bretta, that’s funny! If “smallmart” doesn’t have steer manure, you can put them in the baloney section, or maybe on the toilet paper shelf?
great suggestions! thank you!
FYI–speed bumps are not the only and sometimes not the most effective method of “traffic calming” that slows vehicles down for safety. It would be a good idea to contact the Muni Traffic Engineering Department (907 343-8406) to find out exactly what was proposed for which specific locations before you go blazing away at the Mayor. If you want to ask him an important question, ask when and by whom the recently vacated (by retirement) post of Chief Traffic Engineer will be filled. Safety is very important, but it’s not just a question of speed bumps or no speed bumps.
The residents in the area requested it. The community council requested it. Bill Wielechowski asked for it. The legislature approved it. The governor approved it. The money is there.
Sullivan has the money and refuses to spend it because, according to his office, it would require “engineering.” Nobody in the Muni seems to know why it’s not happening. Given the mayor’s track record of flauting public safety and making bad decisions, I’d like him to explain. I’ll be looking forward to it.
And you’re absolutely right. There are other methods of traffic calming (chicanes which create artificial curves, and chokers that narrow roads, etc.), and the mayor has cut them ALL, not just speed bumps. There will be no money spent on traffic calming, period.
Will anyone fill the vacant position? Another good question.
So I was meeting with a group of neighborhood folk several years ago at our friendly neighborhood anarchist bookstore (this is Austin!) when someone spotted a used copy of “Take Back Your Streets!” on the shelves… There are lots of ways for neighborhood folk to take traffic calming matters into their own hands. My favorite story is the Dutch neighborhood that put old furniture out in the street to create chicanes when the city was slow in responding to their needs.
I would think that speed bumps would be torn up by snow plows (but what do I know about snow plows? On the other hand will top 100 degrees here this afternoon…). There are lots of other options – the best are those that cause drivers to pay attention to something at a shorter distance. The farther ahead you are looking, the faster you feel comfortable going. Something as simple as waving to strangers as they drive by can work – as will interesting roadside art, the presence of someone sitting in their yard reading, or an intersection that has a different type of color of pavement (as all the upscale shopping center developers have apparently figured out now). In Portland there are intersections that have the centers filled with painted medallion designs. We all know that a roadside accident scene works amazing well to slow down traffic. Not that I’m recommending that one – but you see that anything that brings the drivers focus back to his or her immediate surroundings will help calm traffic. There was a Dutch neighborhood that put used furniture out in the street to create their own traffic calming system when the city was slow to respond to their needs… a nearby street did the same thing here with trash carts for a while.
This website has a lot of good info and links, although I haven’t looked at in a while so I’m not sure what all is there…
http://www.lesstraffic.com
Still, at some point you do need the city to come in with things like chicanes and the like – and hopefully work with the residents to find a good solution to the local situation.
Ugh, cut and paste error. Sorry for the redundant anecdote – it was already too long!
If I’m not mistaken –and I very well could be!– the ‘life’ of a speed bump isn’t all that long. Nor are the undercarriages of vehicles that go zooming over them! We used to have at least a dozen roads in this university town with speed bumps affixed all length of the road, and the (only) shopping mall’s parking lot was fairly brimming with them as were the many strip mall’s lots of the city – the cost to keep them maintained was staggering.
Over the past 5-years, they’ve all been removed — all but one. The rest of the areas, the places where the speed bumps used to be, have all been replaced with ‘rumble strips.’ Law enforcement likes them because they do their job in getting drivers to slow down where they are supposed to [slow down.] And the city elders are happy because the road maintenance budget for replacing worn down, cracked and/or broken speed bumps is now not a worry – there’s just that one left…and when it goes ‘rotten’, it’ll get replaced by rumble strips, too.
I don’t know if Anchorage’s climate/road conditions would make milled-in rumble strips a viable safety mechanism/option for traffic control, or not, but they sure have worked well here; as far as warning drivers to a potential congested and/or ‘watch out’ area, they are waaaaaay better than speed bumps ever were. I’m also –obviously– not familiar with the roadway section/area in question, but surely with an already in-hand $350K, *something* could –and should!– be done to alert drivers of potential ‘problems’! Would milled-in rumble strips work? – could they be given as a suggestion to Mayor Sully? beth.
Rumble Strips – Frequently Asked Questions [State of Alaska]
http://dot.alaska.gov/stwddes/dcstraffic/rumble/rumble_faqs.shtml
Beth – how do those work out for bicyclists? Seems like that would be a good solution for a particular street here where speed bumps will never be appropriate (bicycle route and emergency vehicle access to the interstate) and where any street narrowing is out of the question too, and the terrain just begs drivers to go twenty to thirty *over* the limit, without even realizing they are going too fast.
One of the objections to speed bumps is the noise; I can’t imagine that rumble strips are any worse in that regard.
GbTX – the above link’s section: “What is the effect of shoulder rumble strips on bicyclists?” addresses that – they discuss more the effect of the strips along the entire length of a road (ie to keep drivers from drifting out of their lane into the ditches, brush, mountain side, etc.)
I’d imagine leaving a section ‘nekkid’ for a bike tire wouldn’t be all that difficult when planning them across the width of an entire lane. And yes, they ARE noisy – but that’s one of the points of them. When tires ride over the rumble-stripped section, the whole car makes a distinctly different ‘grumble-dy, grumble-dy’ noise! and the whole car shimmy-shimmy shakes… there is NO doubt that your attention is being called for/grabbed. Personally, I love the things! beth.
We have rumble strips on the highway edges and in some areas, between the two directions of road.
I like best the signs “speed hump” in lanes near two high density intersections of Lake Otis Parkway in the Abbott Road area. They are not so tall as to be easily damaged by plowing, and ’speed hump’ makes people think (with amusement) about something else instead of driving faster.
We, too, have the strips along the edges of most of our country roads – two-laned winding things that they are.
We also have them in town –across the entire lane– at the approach(es) to some intersections and in large parking lots where folks tend to fly from one area to the other without regard to/for any *other* traffic / activity in the area.
Also too at 4-way stops out in the sticks where, depending on the height of the crops, you can’t see traffic approaching the intersection from the other roads.
The across-the-lane rumble strips are set up in 3s – the first one you come to is narrow, the second is a bit wider, and the third is widest. Between the strips, and at the intersection, itself, there’s a ‘regular’ patch of roadway — so, you’re tooling on down the road and all of a sudden your car goes ‘grumble-dy-grumble-dy’ with shimmies. Then it rides smooth again…then ‘grumble-dy, grumble-dy, grumble-dy’ with shimmies; then smooth and then ‘grumble-dy, grumble-dy, grumble-dy, grumble-dy’ with more shimmies, then voila!, you’re at the intersection, all slowed down and prepared to stop. i just think they’re so neat! (Yes, I’m weird that way…) beth.
Re: speed bumps.
1. Engineering: What? I’ve built speed bumps (admittedly, this was some years ago). It involves shoveling asphalt in a vaguely straight line and then running over it a couple times with a roller. They don’t last forever, without maintenance. What does?
2. Snow plows: Generally, in snow areas, you also install signs that say “BUMP” or equivalent. In addition to warning speeders to slow their butts down, these also cue the plow driver to raise the blade a foot.
3. Effectiveness: Very high. Deployment leads to lots of complaints from people who were driving too damn fast in a residential area. Since this is the ‘Flats, I have to confine my comment about that to “Oh, that must be distressing to you”.
4. Mis-use: Yes, this can happen. When I lived in San Jose, there was a street near me that was, I guess (I didn’t use it to commute, so I guess), used as a shortcut around a piece of Almaden Expressway. The first incarnation of traffic calming involved a stop sign at every cross street and two speed bumps between each stop sign. I drove on the street occasionally to reach the houses of some of my kid’s friends. It was slightly irritating, but infrequent. After a year or so, a couple of the stopsigns, and all but one of the bumps, had disappeared — the locals found it much more irritating than I did.
5. Equilibrium — see 4 above. Leave it up to the locals. They have to drive over the bumps much more frequently than anyone else. You really don’t need many. You’re usually trying to persuade people that do not live in the neighborhood that the correct speed in a 25 mph zone is, maybe, 35 mph, but not 60.
6. (Optional) Kinetic Energy and response time — this is just a bonus physics remark for anyone who cares. There are two reasons why speed bumps are effective.
(1) Kinetic energy is proportional to the square of velocity (speed). If you are moving and hit something that is unmoveable, the amount of energy that you have to absorb goes as the square of your speed. This is why hitting a wall at 25 mph causes damage, and hitting it at 50 mph (absent air-bag) will turn you to jelly (4x the energy). Hitting a speed bump isn’t the same as a wall, but the square of speed factor is still significant.
(2) Mechanical response time: A motor vehicle has a suspension, which involves large springs and shock absorbers, which are gas-filled pistons intended to damp out the the bouncing that the springs would otherwise produce. If you hit a speed bump at excessive speed, the shock absorber piston cannot respond quickly enough (this roughly why belly-flops hurt), so the entire jolt is transferred to the springs and the chassis (that is, the passengers).
Generally, a speed bump will not damage your vehicle, even if you fail to notice it coming. But I personally think that it has a much greater behavior-modification capability than a rumble-strip. I quite like rumble-strips, but their intended audience are those folks who want to drive safely but may be distracted or sleepy or momentarily inattentive. Speed bumps are addressed to those who think saving a few seconds or minutes of personal transit time is more important than the safety of the local fauna (dogs, moose, elementary schoolkids, etc.).