We got to work before the rain came teaming down today. We’re glad we brought an extra pair of pants though as we don’t have fenders… We’re going on Week 4! of the failure of the paint contractor to return to Talbot Avenue to fill in the spots they missed. Just another contractor living up to their credo I guess….”Don’t kill the job.” We haven’t had a chance to ride past Grove Hall or down Columbia Road to see how those jobs look. There are still extra lines though, but it might be preferable that they be left rather than riding on the areas where the pavement is scraped away to remove the paint. We went up Dot Ave the other day and there is still no bike chevron guy at the light at Old Colony. It must be the same contractor. There are signals that sharrows will be painted at the intersections that have been completed on Dot Ave. My dream of bike lanes on Mass Ave in South Bay was just another construction job 🙁 Riding around town on election day was way cool. There were folks out on the street knocking on doors, yelling out car windows, blowing horns and doing all sorts of things to get folks attention and direct them to the polls. We want to thank Mr. Patrick for showing urban voters that THEY hold the power. We went to a half dozen polling stations and the energy was electric. Scott Brown won because urban voters stayed home. Patrick won because they came out in record numbers thanks to the unending drum beat of outreach that took place. The enthusiasm gap in Mass was from the Republican side as Baker got fewer votes out in the suburbs (Scott Brown country) than Brown, while Patrick somewhat surpassed Coakley out there and he blew away the field in the cities. Hopefully the politicians will remember who got them elected and bring more services in a fairer way to these communities. Particularly bike services! We’re not interested in making it easier for suburnanites to speed through our neighborhoods on their way in town. Planning should encourage them to stay on the HIGHWAY we have to endure slicing through our neighborhoods already rather than taking a ‘short cut’ through the neighborhoods. Or they can get on the T or a bike. Wouldn’t that be nice? We’ll hopefully see you all next Monday out on Dot Ave (and hopefully Talbot) to help light up Dot bike riders. A trip to the Blarney Stone is always nice too.
