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<DIV>When I am at my shop many times I sit on the</DIV>
<DIV>front steps & watch traffic or when working in</DIV>
<DIV>Jemals windows. I see people running stop </DIV>
<DIV>signs at all places or barely tap the brake & </DIV>
<DIV>move on with speed on Queensbury & Lafayette.</DIV>
<DIV>Also, Speed bumps or not on</DIV>
<DIV>Ravenswood, they run our stop signs too.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>On the RR tracks, cars pile in behind each</DIV>
<DIV>other impatiently trying to push traffic on </DIV>
<DIV>faster. If a train came - no car could get out</DIV>
<DIV>of the way...no place to go.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The bus heading east on Queensbury to go</DIV>
<DIV>over the tracks from S&Js should never pull</DIV>
<DIV>onto the tracks until those tracks are clear &</DIV>
<DIV>there is plenty of room to completely go across</DIV>
<DIV>& clear the tracks - but they impatiently pull on</DIV>
<DIV>to the tracks & stop for whoever in front of them</DIV>
<DIV>making right or lefts on Lafayette.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If people obeyed the law, drove defensively, had</DIV>
<DIV>patience, used common sense for safety, these</DIV>
<DIV>accidents would not happen. Reality is this RR</DIV>
<DIV>track is ripe for disaster. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Putting up the lights to shine on Stop Signs, </DIV>
<DIV>painting white cross strips & having some type</DIV>
<DIV>of police being present - even if it is their coffee</DIV>
<DIV>break time - or what about a speed camera to </DIV>
<DIV>snap pictures of impatient drivers & send them </DIV>
<DIV>tickets???</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The other day I actually saw a woman as the</DIV>
<DIV>RR crossing was coming down, floor her car</DIV>
<DIV>& came flying over the tracks to beat the arms.</DIV>
<DIV>I thought her car was going to be airborn.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We need to do something. It is our responsibility</DIV>
<DIV>to try.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Em</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 4/4/2009 8:53:01 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
m.avery@rocketmail.com writes:</DIV>
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<DIV>Rob-</DIV>
<DIV>you make some very valid points. it seems like the ball has been dropped
as far as the safety issues go. </DIV>
<DIV>another serious problem is the stop sign runners at corner of Lafayette
and Queensburry and the stop sign in front of S&J's.</DIV>
<DIV>Well actually stop sign running all over town. Have the police just given
up on enforcing this traffic law?</DIV>
<DIV>I am very surprised that Riverdale's finest are not posted at the
intersection making their own assessment of the problem.<BR></DIV>
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<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Robert Oppenheim
<Rob.Oppenheim@comcast.net><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> TownTalk
<towntalk@riverdale-park.org>; TownHall
<riverdaleparkmd@comcast.net><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Friday, April 3, 2009 10:43:58
PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [RP TownTalk] RR
crossing safety improvements<BR></FONT><BR>One problem with the RR crossing is
poor lighting. There are<BR>no street lamps on the corner of Lafayette and
Queensbury<BR>and much of the RR crossing is dark too. This is very
dangerous<BR>to pedestrians and confusing to drivers.<BR><BR>Just last
December (2008), an early morning female jogger was<BR>hit by a car at this
corner. Her ankle was broken in several<BR>places and her convalescence has
been slow and painful.<BR><BR>Two years ago the council approved adding two
street lights to<BR>the S.W. corner of Lafayette and Queensbury. One lamp was
to<BR>shine onto the Queensbury/RR crossing area - the other was to<BR>shine
onto Lafayette. These lamps have not been installed.<BR>I don’t know
why.<BR><BR>Perhaps these street lamps would have enabled the driver to
see<BR>the early morning jogger and prevented that accident.<BR><BR>Also,
there is no crosswalk painted there. In fact, there are<BR>no crosswalks
anywhere that can get a pedestrian from the RR<BR>crossing to say, the bus
stop in front of the old Credit Union<BR>or to Dumm’s Corner. This should be
corrected immediately –<BR>and the lamps should be installed too.<BR><BR>Poor
visibility makes it easier for drivers to mistakenly turn<BR>onto the tracks.
They think they are turning onto Lafayette, but<BR>they turn onto the tracks
instead, get stuck, and get hit by a train.<BR>The police dept tells me this
happens a lot. (Bruce has a great story<BR>about such an accident).<BR><BR>Do
we have the foresight to act now to improve our RR crossing<BR>safety? Can we
be prodded into action by these recent non-lethal<BR>accidents or do we have
to wait until something really
horrible<BR>happens?<BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>TownTalk
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is for automated subscription processing
only<BR>http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk<BR><BR>For more
information about Riverdale Park, visit
http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>TownTalk
mailing list<BR>To post to the list, send mail to
TownTalk@riverdale-park.org<BR>TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org is for
automated subscription processing
only<BR>http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk<BR><BR>For more
information about Riverdale Park, visit
http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? <a href="http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001">Make dinner for $10 or less</a>.</font></DIV></BODY></HTML>