City of...
So, what will Lakewood's legacy be? We have Paris, the City of Lights. Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love. Could Lakewood be the City of Traffic Signs? Watching our new bus stops being built on Clifton Boulevard for the past two years, one may have thought that we were finally reaching the end of this project. But in the city which has a "No Turn on Red" sign on just about every corner (except around schools, where drivers can turn on red during non-school hours), we now have signs stacked three high to help us navigate our new bus stops. The right lane can now only be used to turn right before our bus stops. The new signs are stacked three high and drivers must now look up from the road in order to read them. Are the new signs telling us anything but common sense? Do other cities need to tell drivers that buses make stops and it is unwise to get in behind them as they approach a bus stop or do they presume a modicum of intelligence on the part of the average driver?
I am now mowing around the three new "No Parking" signs in my neighborhood. No one ever parked there, but I guess it is official now. How much do each of these signs cost to both make and to mount them? Are we getting anything from these tax dollars? How about using these same tax dollars for a traffic study on timing the lights on Detroit? These signs are definitely "Blockin' out the scenary, breakin' my mind." I think it's time to do a review and re-think some of our traffic-control zealotry.
Ted Nagel
Moved here with my wife (who grew up here) and family after retiring from the Army. Volunteer in the community primarily with sports but also through the Lakewood Congregational Church.