Bumper Cars What are those black bump-like things that just
app-eared in the road on Monterey near Third Street downtown?
Bumper Cars
What are those black bump-like things that just app-eared in the road on Monterey near Third Street downtown?
The black bumps in the road aren’t speed bumps, they’re “traffic calming cushions.”
Tired of drivers speeding through downtown, threatening pedestrians of all shapes and sizes, downtown merchants begged the city to do something. And they did, by restriping crosswalks, launching extra police patrols, filling an empty median with trees and narrowing drive lanes.
The “traffic cushions” are the latest evolution in the effort to tame speeders and are designed to slow you down to something approaching the speed limit of 25 miles per hour.
Soon to come is a more formal narrowing of Monterey Road in front of the community center and possibly a structure over the entrances to downtown – all designed to let the driver know he or she is entering a special space. Taxpayers – that’s us – have poured a fair amount of cash into nudging our downtown toward being charming and pedestrian-friendly. Slow down and enjoy it.
You might also check out the several new restaurants just opened or are about to and don’t miss the Friday Night Music Series, 7-9pm on West Second Street. It’s free and sports a different kind of lively music each week – through September.
Dayworkers Again
The Dayworker Center on Main and Depot is not doing its job. The men are not in it but still swarming around the bank. They jump my truck when I go to Wells Fargo, hang out in the street and have commandeered the bus stop.
What’s the purpose of this building if we can’t get them in it? And, is there ever an immigration check to see if they are legally able to work?
Chief of Police Bruce Cumming said he is working with the center, trying to get to guys to go inside. But the key is for potential employers to know to go inside too. Once they do that, the men looking for work will follow. Cumming said center Director Eloisa Gamez is preparing a flyer for employers and employees, laying out how it works and what the benefit to them is.
Cumming and Lt. Joe Sampson stopped in on Cinco de Mayo to talk to the guys – Sampson in Spanish – to encourage the gentlemen to wait for work inside, in air conditioned comfort.
Cumming says that, if anyone ever feels threatened by the men, call him at the police department, 779-2101.
The local police don’t handle immigration issues and it seems to be the policy of the official immigration folks to leave most dayworker centers alone because they do a public service – getting the guys off the street and clearing up job expectations.
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