Tag: Tax Dollars Asleep

When we get to the end of Overocker Road, we occupy the entire left-and-straight lane, because we’re turning left onto Burnett Blvd and there’s no room for another vehicle beside us:

I’m towing a trailer of groceries.

On Burnett Blvd, we take the left side of the right lane (marked for left-and-right turns), because we’re turning left onto Rt 55, don’t want to get right-hooked by right-on-red traffic, and will be on the right side of the right lane of Rt 55 when we’re through the turn.

Without turn signals, it’s not clear whether the car following us from Overocker will turn left or right, but the driver is snuggling up next to Mary:

The driver’s window is sliding downward. Fortunately, we started moving before any comments were made. Perhaps he was going tell us we’re riding cool bikes?

Ah-ha! The driver is turning left and intending to pass me on the right while we’re in the intersection:

Helmet mirror FTW!

I’m moving rightward across the turning lane to end up on the right side of the Rt 55 lane, while not riding across the steel manhole cover at the car’s front wheel:

Mary doesn’t accelerate nearly as hard as I do; those pictures are one second apart.

I’m un-leaning from the turn into Rt 55, with the trailer still on my left and the driver accelerating toward me:

A close pass, but not too bad:

Most of the time, our rides aren’t this interesting, but I have plenty of examples showing how NYS DOT’s road designs ignore cyclists. The Burnett intersection signals still give us four seconds to clear the intersection.

This might have had something to do with my email and followup from the Dutchess BPAC leader, all with absolutely no feedback:

To judge from the shattered stems lining the route, NYSDOT positioned an articulated rotary mower vertically and ran it along the guide rail, cutting the Japanese knotweed more-or-less flush with the rail, then cleaning up most of the debris. Absent glyphosate treatment, the bushes will return in full force next summer.

Even though the disintegrating pavement isn’t any more rideable than before, not having weeds brush our elbows and grab for our eyes makes for a much more comfortable riding experience; now, we’re set for the peak Halloween-to-Groundhog-Day riding season.

As NYSDOT says: “Maintaining roads goes far beyond the edge of the pavement.“

We recently had one of those rare “Get the fuck off the road” incidents on Raymond. To set the stage, we’re on our way for groceries and I’m towing the trailer.

The rear view shows the second car behind us veering far to the right side of the lane, trying to see around the car ahead of him, with much blowing of horn:

The big GMC had been following us at a reasonable distance from the Juliet roundabout as we trundled along Raymond at about 12 mph, riding out of the Door Strike Zone for well and good reason.

The GMC passed us at the end of the median, which let the impatient driver zoom up next to us. You can’t hear the horn that will blow as he pulls up next to me:

Our usual route takes us into Davis St, so Mary’s already leaning into the right turn. I think he intended to go straight on Raymond for at least another block to the arterial, but he made an abrupt right turn into Davis St directly in front of me:

Perhaps that’s to Teach Us A Lesson after all the horn-blowing?

I always ride behind Mary and slightly to her left, so that if / when bad shit goes down, I can bring it down on me, rather than her. In this case, she was safely beyond what was about to happen:

The wide-angle lens is deceiving, as I’m less than three feet from the car and closing rapidly; I’m obviously not turning as sharply as he expected and I’m not slowing to avoid a collision. There’s a parked car just ahead of Mary, to her right, and her path is as far to the right as it can get.

He apparently realized that Teaching Me A Lesson would produce a nasty scuff on the side of his shiny black car and, perhaps having spotted the helmet camera, a nasty loss in the ensuing insurance squabble. He also wasn’t willing to swing wide, head-on into the oncoming lane of Davis, so he stopped dead in the intersection:

That’s fine with me.

I continued wide past the parked car on Davis. He accelerated hard, decided, once again, not to ram me from behind, turned abruptly left into the parking lot, and proceeded to the eastbound arterial:

I’m stopped in that picture to aim the helmet camera backwards over my left shoulder. The car behind the white one is parked near the intersection, just to my right in the previous picture.

As nearly as I could make out, he shouted, in addition to the usual obscenities, “Roads are for automobiles!”, a surprisingly articulate word under the circumstances. Evidently, he hadn’t noticed NYSDOT’s “Share the Road” signage helpfully posted on the far end of Raymond.

Elapsed time from the Juliet roundabout to the parking lot: 45 seconds.

Maybe he had a cake in the oven?

NYSDOT seems oddly reluctant to perform routine brush clearing along Rt 376 from Red Oaks Mill to the Hamlet of New Hackensack, despite the obvious hazard presented by the bushes:

I’ve reported this situation several times over the years, but, as you’ve seen in other situations, that has no effect.

If it were a pleasant back-country lane, rather than our main route to the Dutchess Rail Trail, perhaps having the greenery take over the shoulder wouldn’t matter quite so much:

Turns out the shoulder just north of Maloney has developed lethal cracks as the pavement subsides into the adjoining section of the Mighty Wappinger Creek. A bit more clearance would still be nice.

I reported this short cycle time to the Dutchess County DPW, back in September 2015, and got this response:

Thank you for contacting Dutchess County DPW about this matter.  I will ask our Traffic Engineer to review the signal timing at CR 104/CR110 (New Hackensak/Jackson) to see if adjustments can be made.  The primary factors used to set the current signal timing are operational efficiency, safety and Level of Service for motor vehicles.  If there are signal timing adjustments which can achieve these goals and provide for safer passage of bicycles, we will explore those options.  I will also ask our Traffic Engineer to investigate altering the sensitivity of the detector system to detect bicycles.  I will share our findings with you. Thank you again for your comments.

Robert H. Balkind, P.E.
Deputy Commissioner
Dutchess County Department of Public Works

Emphasis mine, of course. Translation: “It’s not going to happen.”

I pinged him a few weeks later:

That review has not been done yet. I will advise you when our investigation is complete.

So, here’s what the signal timing looks like these days…

T = 0.000 s – Green

On the positive side, a pair of big long wheelbase recumbents stopped in the middle of the lane seem sufficient to trigger the traffic detector!

T = 3.150 s – Yellow

We’re definitely not fast enough off the block; Mary thought she had time for a sip of water. We started rolling less than two seconds after the green appeared, which is as fast as one should enter an intersection around here.

T = 8.000 s – Red

T = 13.000 s – Opposing Green

In round numbers, it takes us about 15 seconds from a cold start to reach the far side of that intersection. I can do it in a bit less, but Mary can’t, even though we’re in pretty good shape for the shape we’re in.

As with NYSDOT’s promises about the signal timing on Burnett Blvd, I’m not holding my breath about DCDPW getting in touch with me about that study; if nothing has changed after ten months, it never will.