More on Columbia St. one-way chaos

Had an extremely unpleasant chat this morning with the construction company’s community liaison, Kijana Wright. He left a comment on this blog yesterday and included his phone number. I left voice mail for him yesterday, so he calls at 8 a.m. (“Sorry I called so early, but we’ve been here since 6, ha.”)

So besides the fact that I think he lied to me repeatedly throughout the conversation, this is what the situation appears to be for Columbia Street:

It will remain one way for about the next year and a half only, basically until the as-yet-unstarted construction ends for Columbia between DeGraw to Atlantic. This main commercial stretch here from DeGraw to Hamilton is all done save for the final repaving which they hope to get done before this Christmas, he said.

The B61 and B71 buses will continue on their current altered routes through the neighborhood for the next year and a half.

That’s probably all you need to know fact-wise. Most of the 20-minute conversation was me complaining that for the past year they’ve done a lousy job with signage and communicating with the neighborhood -- and his excuses why I was totally wrong.
Among the points of dispute …

He said the notices of the street’s one-way change went out on Dec. 1. He claims he went from business to business handing them out on Columbia Street, stuck them under the wiper of every parked car on the soon-to-be-wrong-way on Columbia, that he posted them on the bulletin boards at the pocket parks. He said they must have *all* been stolen soon after.

Funny, I live just off Columbia and I didn’t see a single notice until yesterday, Dec. 11. And when those cops were ticketing all the cars on Friday, there wasn’t a notice on a single car, nor a notice posted anywhere – something I pointed out to the cop who said I was correct, that the construction company should have done it, but all he could do was enforce the law as it stood.

And by the way, that same cop said the reason they were ticketing all the cars parked the suddenly-wrong-way on Columbia was because there had been several head-on crashes. Mr. Construction Guy said the cop was completely wrong about that – there have been none, and he would know better than the cop.

On the point about the late notice of the street direction change, I asked why the notices only went out Dec. 1 (if they indeed did at all) for a major traffic pattern change going in effect Dec. 5. His answer was that originally “they” (I didn’t ask who,) had backed off the plan to change the direction and “at the last minute” decided to go ahead and make it one way -- so he personally had to hustle and get all those flyers out.

So if you look back at the comment he left on this blog yesterday, you’ll see he says this:

All of the signs for the detour and new traffic patterns went up on 12-4-06 and went into effect on 12-5-06.

Think about that. One-way signs went up, but no one was supposed to start obeying them until a day later. The first day it was actually enforced (ticketed and tows) was Friday, December 8. And the first day I saw cops directing traffic was Monday, Dec. 11.

And let’s say you were driving from Carroll Gardens a few days ago, crossed over the BQE on Sackett and got to Columbia. For at least a day after those one-way signs were posted, there was an additional sign (on Sackett) covered with burlap. (Which in the past is how we’ve figured out something was going to change in the neighborhood, anxiously awaiting the unveiling.) So when the burlap came off this time, it was a picture sign indicating no left turn. Why cover that for a day? Maybe because those one-way signs weren’t yet in effect? Because at that time, cars were still driving both ways despite the signs.

I was out at Columbia and DeGraw yesterday afternoon and surprised to see not just one cop directing traffic, but an entire van full of NYPD cops parked outside Alma Restaurant. And while I was there, one minivan still tried to go the new wrong-way down Columbia, (pictured at top,) stopped only by the cop frantically waving her arms.

I suppose I should end this by giving our construction guy the last word, as taken from the blog comment:

many motorist simply ignore the traffic signs. It is not a case of limited signs or no signs, because they are in the correct locations. People are simply used to Columbia and Van Brunt being a certain way in regards to traffic and do not observe the traffic signs.

- posted by Amy @ 12/12/2006 09:41:00 AM