Where’s the Music Coming From?
“I concur with March 16 letter to the editor regarding Friday Night music. Why don’t they simply move it to the Community Center where there is an a beautiful venue, an underutilized stage, plenty of comfortable seating, a dance floor, and a safe place for kids to run around? We would still patronize the downtown restaurants that are a mere few blocks away.”
RED PHONE
Great suggestion, caller, although now it’s a moot point. The Friday Night Music Series is staying right where it is … on the corner of Monterey Road and W. Second Street.
The downtown merchants have agreed to help the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, the sponsor of the series, with the support needed to set up the popular event each week.
Many people spoke up to keep the event at its original location and it looks like the squeaky wheels got their share of grease on this one. Thanks for listening, chamber, and keep up the great work.
Newspapers Causing Havoc
“Red Phone, your March 9 response to a caller complaining about littering created by the delivery of 10,000-plus Morgan Hill Times newspapers on Fridays to non-subscribers was incomplete. I live on Calle Tierra and I notice four or five newspapers still sitting in the gutter every week.
“Property owners shouldn’t have to opt out of newspaper deliveries that are littering the streets and neighborhoods. The plastic wrappers could eventually wind up killing the fish in our creeks and impacting the environment.”
RED PHONE
Thanks, caller for making the Red Phone column better. You help us really address the issue by pointing out the insufficient information provided to you. We apologize. The Red Phone contacted Walt Glines, circulation director for South Valley Newspapers, who shared with us the directives that have been given to the newspaper’s carriers.
Our delivery people are asked not to drop off the newspaper at vacant homes and to stop delivery if newspapers start to pile up in front of homes. In rural areas, carriers are asked to deliver the paper in a driveway or at the base of a mail box. “In no instance are newspapers to be delivered in the gutter or in a ditch,” Glines said.
Glines also invited residents seeing misplaced newspapers or residents receiving two or more Friday newspapers to call him at 842-5359. He promises the Red Phone to address the problem immediately. We apologize for the inconvenience the extra delivery of newspapers may be causing our residents.
Nowhere to Turn
“Would anyone know why Monterey Road north of Morgan Hill has the miles-long concrete divider? One wrong driving move and the next opportunity to turn around is 10 miles ahead. Initially I thought this is for some kind of flood prevention, but in that case the wall would have been on one side of the road, not in the middle. Would be interesting to know. Maybe safety, but in that case, why not have more places to turn around.”
RED PHONE
Well, caller, there is a lot of history concerning this stretch of road.
Before the South Valley Freeway opened in the late ’80s the only traffic corridor that existed between south San Jose and Morgan Hill was this section of the freeway.
As you can imagine, drivers having to use Monterey Road every day to get to work faced a long commute and, to make matters worse, southbound traffic was always tempted to cross the northbound lanes to get to the many fruit stands that cropped up on the east side of Monterey Road. Unfortunately, this practice made these vehicles perfect targets for head-on collisions … and there were many of them. So many, in fact, that this road became infamous as it was dubbed “Blood Alley.”
The concrete divider was finally installed, and driver safety was increased along Monterey Road.
When the South Valley Freeway opened, traffic congestion cleared up on “Blood Alley” to the point where the fruit stands also dried up and disappeared.
Today, this road is used mainly as a trucking route, and since we haven’t had many reports of serious accidents on Monterey Road north of town, it seems like a good idea to leave the divider right where it is.
Keep the Red Phone busy by calling us with your concerns about the community you live in. Contact us at (408) 779-4106, ext. 206, or e-mail [email protected]. Remember to leave a name and phone number when you call or e-mail. The Red Phone will not publish this information and will only use it for verification purposes.
