tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post2933388414395111662..comments2024-02-28T11:29:36.860-05:00Comments on just up the pike: driver behavior, not street trees, are the real killerDan Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594208011755406956noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-51404910733347441752008-10-08T13:06:00.000-04:002008-10-08T13:06:00.000-04:00There actually aren't any permanent speed cameras ...There actually aren't any permanent speed cameras on Calverton Boulevard. Instead, the County has mobile van-mounted speed cameras that rotate between it and a number of other "photo-enforced" roads. I'm not sure if this is a temporary measure before cameras are installed on every road, though mobile speed cameras do seem pretty effective - you never know when the van's going to be there, so people do slow down.Dan Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10594208011755406956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-68402946320173748722008-10-08T12:41:00.000-04:002008-10-08T12:41:00.000-04:00Dan, Speaking of Calverton Blvd: I live right by t...Dan, <BR/><BR/>Speaking of Calverton Blvd: I live right by there and travel that road most days. I see the "Photo enforced" signs, but I'm failing to see the cameras. Where are they located? And are they only pointed in the direction coming from Cherry Hill?hockeypunkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11494432062758544675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-24482385020969695922008-10-04T19:09:00.000-04:002008-10-04T19:09:00.000-04:00Nope, just the trees.All I can say about this is t...Nope, just the trees.<BR/><BR/>All I can say about this is that I live in a neighborhood that was once known as "Wheaton Woods". <BR/><BR/>We bought the place we live in because it had lots of shade trees, and was a nice sub-Urban Forest.<BR/><BR/>Almost all of our neighbors who bought at the same time made their final decision mostly on the basis of the place being forested. Not surprisingly, a lot of the people buying here for that reason had ancestry in or near the Schwarzwald or comparable vestiges of the Hercynian Forest.<BR/><BR/>In later years, we noticed that the new wave of foreigners immigrating from places other than Europe tended to buy a property and immediately cut every tree on the property, after if not before they were informed that it was their responsibility to remove the deciduous fall and get it to the curb for collection. <BR/><BR/>Maybe "Ike" is simply bowing to the demands of lazy immigrants who don't want to be bothered collecting the fallen leaves of the trees which make our county so liveable.<BR/><BR/>All I can say is that I'm not too happy if that's the real reason; I mean, these people deforested the Amazon and after cutting down every last tree in their homelands and turning them into deserts, they want to come here and do the same thing and make our country unliveable as well.Thomas Hardmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07951423786343852055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-63924969392084047032008-10-04T15:29:00.000-04:002008-10-04T15:29:00.000-04:00Let me get this straight - we are going to remove ...Let me get this straight - we are going to remove the trees, but not the power poles?? Power poles kill too, and on many streets the power poles are closer to the roadway than are the trees.silverspringtrailshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12142254843465970449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-63228689210881196452008-10-04T13:42:00.000-04:002008-10-04T13:42:00.000-04:00Well, you can fit more people into Maryland if you...Well, you can fit more people into Maryland if you Pave the Bay, and I guess you can clear enough space for all of those people to walk if you clean out the Urban Forest.<BR/><BR/>Maybe this is more of what Our Humble Host derided as "letting cops control urban planning". After all, can't have trees getting in the way of surveillance by unmanned aerial drones.Thomas Hardmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07951423786343852055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-79938547181512018692008-10-03T18:39:00.000-04:002008-10-03T18:39:00.000-04:00Yeah....trees kill and also, what did Ronald Reaga...Yeah....trees kill and also, what did Ronald Reagan once say? Ketchup is a vegetable?<BR/><BR/>Slowing drivers down, planning for "road diet" etc. is good for all. Did Legett really propose removing urban tree canopy? Yikes!<BR/><BR/>I grew up on MoCo anjd visit often, but I now reside in Annapolis where I publish the only political blog from within the city limits--www.annapoliscapitalpunishment.blogspot.com<BR/>I like the excec's overall intentions to promote and protect walkers, but...Paul Foerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17224175197986788388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-59407247484545861562008-10-03T15:23:00.000-04:002008-10-03T15:23:00.000-04:00Is anyone actually surprised that the Gazette prin...Is anyone actually surprised that the <I>Gazette</I> prints letters from shills touting "Ike" Leggett's sinister plot to make the streets unpleasant for the tanless and pale? Maybe he's heavily invested in parasol manufacturing and wants a bigger dividend check at the end of the month, which is about the only sane and non-racist explanation for his evident declaration of war against us palefaces. <BR/><BR/>Or look at it another way: When the sun's at high noon, there's a nice shade tree on the no-mans-land that keeps the poor folks waiting for the "48" from getting too hot in the summer sun. But because it's properly trimmed, it doesn't block their view of the oncoming bus nor does it obstruct people's view of the "Stop" sign. What block's people's view of that "Stop" sign is the placement of the Ride-On bus-stop sign, which is placed perfectly to break up the pattern of the Big Red Octagon. <BR/><BR/>Whoever this person is who complains about having to step out into the road to see around the trees should stop trying to cross the road in the middle of the block on a curve, and cross at the intersections as the law should require. <BR/><BR/>Oh, I just thought of another explanation for this bizarre war against sidewalk shade trees. After a decade or so of neglect, PEPCO and the County had to join forces to trim up a couple of trees here that had inexplicably been planted right next to the utility poles on which streetlights were mounted. The trees had grown out in such a way that their foliage was blocking the light from reaching the ground. <BR/><BR/>Thus, if there's any public-safety concern at all, it's for bad placement of streetlights and shade trees which obviously shouldn't be right next to each other. But this has absolutely nothing to do with automobile traffic on the streets. Explaining it as if it were a pedestrian/traffic safety issue is simply more of the typical rationalization and obfuscation of trying to save a very few bucks trimming trees.<BR/><BR/>And that's the real problem in a nutshell: shifting blame where it doesn't belong, and submitting rationalizations so bizarre that no logical person can figure out how to argue against them (because everyone knows you can't argue with a sick mind).Thomas Hardmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07951423786343852055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-40339321606713620122008-10-03T14:42:00.000-04:002008-10-03T14:42:00.000-04:00It is similar logic to the fact that complicated i...It is similar logic to the fact that complicated intersections are less likely to have traffic accidents because drivers slow down and are more aware at those intersections. In 28 years, I have never seen an accident at Colesville Road and 16th Street, one of the most confusing intersections in the area. I've also never seen traffic really backed up there. <BR/><BR/>It is one of the basic concepts of urban planning, get drivers to slow down. Visual cues are the most effective way to do this. Leggett's proposal is highly illogical.Davemurphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07331653772702609738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30306615.post-47552383536773452802008-10-03T12:20:00.000-04:002008-10-03T12:20:00.000-04:00Guns don't kill people, street trees do. This stu...Guns don't kill people, street trees do. This stuff makes me hopping mad!Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13601092971406547119noreply@blogger.com