The Red Phone sounds off Saturdays in The Times. We invite you
to call us 24/7 to ask questions, report a complaint, give us a
tip, offer an amusing tale of the short variety or just want people
to know about something to do with Morgan Hill and the surrounding
territory. We
’ll check it out and have the answer in an upcoming column.
The Red Phone sounds off Saturdays in The Times.
We invite you to call us 24/7 to ask questions, report a complaint, give us a tip, offer an amusing tale of the short variety or just want people to know about something to do with Morgan Hill and the surrounding territory. We’ll check it out and have the answer in an upcoming column.
Leave us a message on the Red Phone. We won’t print your name or share it with others. We do, however, need your name and phone number for verification purposes.
101 work: A question Red Phone answered last week has produced a follow up query.
With the concrete-making equipment set up in the northwest corner of the Highway 101/Tennant Avenue exit, making ready to repave that impossibly bumpy stretch of pavement between Tennant and Cochrane, a reader noticed something amiss.
“Is it legal for these guys to have run a hose to the fire hydrant on Juan Hernandez Boulevard? Are taxpayers paying to fill their construction site’s large water tank?
Red Phone tracked down the answer in the Public Works Department: Jim Ashcraft, the department’s director, says there is indeed a hose connected to the Caltrans project and it is indeed siphoning off city water. However, he says, taxpayers will not be charged a dime.
“There is a hydrant meter installed that records usage and Caltrans – or their contractor – pays us for it. They also know that if we have a water emergency and if anybody’s water is going to be shut off, they know we will shut off the hydrant meters first.”
butterfield next?: Butterfield Boulevard stretching from Cochrane Road to Tennant Avenue is wonderful, a Red Phone caller said, but when can we expect the next installment?
For years, as Butterfield grew block by block, it was the subject of some derision around town.
“It’s the Road to Nowhere,” town wags called it. But in December, 2003, when the latest segment opened, people began to see that city fathers and mothers have seen for a long time: that Butterfield can be really, really useful as a way to ease the traffic load on Monterey. And, don’t you like the little park running alongside?
The final phase for Butterfield is to connect it with Watsonville Road, which is planned to happen before 2014. No funds have been earmarked for the project as yet. Redevelopment Agency funds paid for Butterfield and the current batch of RDA money is entirely used up or earmarked for other projects.
One plan the City Council is toying with is to narrow Monterey Road downtown to only one lane each way, widening sidewalks, adding parking and making the center median less of a barrier. Wider sidewalks would allow restaurants to serve diners and coffee drinkers on the sidewalk, while everyone ogles passers by.
A row of parked cars between the street and sidewalk/dining area makes the sidewalks safer and further from traffic.
This council has always wanted a more pedestrian-friendly town center and the Butterfield miracle might be just the ticket.
