It takes much time and effort to convince a government, no matter how big or small, that a citizen and voter needs a change.
My request was small and I called the alderman’s office and was treated fairly, actually got three stop signs where they were desparately needed but awaited my request which was denied.
There is a fine for jaywalking in this city, but no car will stop for pedestrians in a designated crosswalk so we are at a nasty sticking point, betwixt Scylla and Charibdis to be sure. The city owns one side of the street and the county the other. They placed their wheelchair ramps one diagonal, one straight and ADA says they have to face each other so they can stripe the road and keep pedestrians safe.
No one did anything until a pedestrian was killed Sunday evening, I wrote the local newspaper and alerted forces that can just make a phone call to make something happen. This morning I got back from getting my hair cut and took the dog out and voila! There’s a paint outline for a curb ramp! Imagine that.
One person or a lot of citizen voters can wait for years for the smallest thing to happen. Unfortunately, it’s who you know and not how many. I am glad of the progress as my dog and I almost got run over after the second person in over a year stopped for us and the guy behind him gunned it and went into the oncoming traffic lane and switched back at top speed two feet behind us.
I take the dog out four times a day and take our lives in my hands each and every time. Speeding on the N/S streets is a major problem and innocent pedestrians are being killed. To the police: please stop enforcing anti-jaywalking laws and make vehicles stop at designated stopwalks. This change will save us all lives and money. Thank you. Dee
Cooking with Dee 