Let’s us count the ways in the days ahead!
1. Incompetent project management – checkout Wireless and Route 112
2. Wasteful Spending!
3. Unsafe construction practices!
4. Ignoring the boss -the taxpayer!
In the decades I have lived here I never saw the traffic rerouted from Wireless to the front of my home. Never! John, really you live in Miller Place and did your department ever route the traffic to the front of your house? So instead of bringing the traffic to John Rouse’s house I figure I would do the next best thing and bring Internet traffic to your home:
3 Rye Field Ct · Mount Sinai, NY
Intrusive to John Rouse but still not as bad as having thousands of cars driving by your house.
The Wireless Road Project
The Town of Brookhaven has decided that Wireless is unsafe and something had to be done. True and no argument with thatassertion. For those unfamiliar with the road Wireless Road is a a mile and a half stretch of road that is a popular North-South cut through to Nicoll’s Road. Almost 5000 cars pass down the road that has a 30 MPH speed limit but were cars routinely travel at 50 mph plus. Average speed is 45 mph. Not surprisngly there are numerous accidents on the road but not a single traffic light has been installed. Wouldn’t be effective the town said. Yet the accidents mount on a weekly basis and numerous casualties and injuries have occurred. All agree it’s a dangerous road and one of the busiest Town maintained roads in Brookhaven.
So instead of putting traffic lights John Rouse and Brookhaven town decided to build median islands in the middle of the road. Why? To narrow the roadway, making it seem less safe to drivers and hopefully forcing drivers to slow down. Oh, and no traffic lights. Yes folks you can’t make this up and the cost to the taxpayer: a cool half million dollars, I assume Obama stimulus dollars. So without warning the town begins the project and begins to divert all of the traffic to the local residential streets primarily Bellewood Avenue. Bellewoood is a sleepy narrow residential street where maybe a car every ten minutes goes down the street, the type of street you feel safe raising your kids on.
So without warning John Rouse and the townthe town diverts all of the traffic to Bellewood Avenue. No warnings and thousands cars were diverted through the sleepy in angry conga line of commuters that were mad at the days and the slowness of the traffic. This went on for weeks.
Calls to the local Brookhaven town officials were to no avail and lots of residents complained and even the town admitted this. Why don’t just close the road altogether and divert the traffic to intersection of Nicolls Road and Nesconsett. No, that’s a state road and we can’t get permission. Why can’t you install a couple of traffic lights. That would slow the cars , make turning safer and would be a hell of lot less costly than the construction of medians and islands. Oh, we can’t work at night because we don’t have lights. Damn, you would think a half million dollars would be a lot of lights, right? Didn’t matter, solution after solution was ignored by John Rouse and the town.
The following conversation actually happened. From one town official and to paraphrase their words the work on Wireless had to be done it, is such a dangerous road.
Really and don’t you think diverting all of this dangerous traffic to a local residential street that is narrow and that has numerous stop signs is even a more dangerous solution? How crazy does all of this sound?
So far the contractors have managed the traffic through the residential street with minimal staff managing the traffic flow, no signs, no police presence. No ploice presence Crazy, stupid and dangerous as thousands of cars on daily basis moved through the streets. And large trucks pass through even though they are not allowed on Wireless. I pointed that out to a police officer andhe said how do I know he’s not making a stop locally? It was a freaking cement truck!
The work is almost done. Net effect: the cars move just as fast, numerous scrape marks on the medians with the new narrower roadway and since their installation I know of at least two accidents on Wireless Road. Oh, and you and I as the taxpayer are on the hook for $500,000 that will just be added to the deficit. That means this project will cost a cool million! And here the best part; the same stupid plan is being rolled out for Route 113. Way to go John Rouse and that’s why John Rouse Sucks!
Feel free to add your own comments about the overall suckiness of John Rouse and the Town of Crookhaven!
