By: Curmudgeon
This morning's Standard Examiner is running an interesting story, reporting that a city-owned parking lot on Washington right across the street from the promised [yet again] Hotel At The Junction is getting a new entrance to make it more accessible to drivers, since the lot is now sadly underused:
That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is this comment by Godfrey Administration Chief Administrative Officer Mr. John "Pureheart" Patterson:
"Parking is the No. 1 infrastructure need in the downtown area."It is? Why it was just weeks ago, wasn't it that the Administration was assuring us when its plans for an underground parking garage for the promised Hilton Hotel at The Junction -- in other words, right across the street from the city lot discussed in this story --- tanked [banks refused to pony up the loans on grounds that the project was too speculative, too risky] that it really didn't matter because there would be ample parking available close to the hotel for its patrons without the underground lot.
Huh? Parking within a block of the Junction Hotel was ample a couple of weeks ago, but this morning, parking in the same location is the number one infrastructure need of the city?
I wonder what the number one infrastructure need will be next week....
21 comments:
What the??? guess that is the way the wind blows this week...lets see what kind of parking lot "we" get....funny how the city can have these gravel parking lots or "the" church while private businesses end up having to do the real thing with real paving, storm drain, retention landscaping and parkstrips....and what are we paying the owner of this property in rent?...is there a hot tub excise tax covering this....inquiring minds want to know...and they want to know now.
With elections coming up later this year, the # 1 infrastructure need is non-profit, fund raising, tax sheltered and "off the radar" (blimp included) organizations who will support candidates like Blain Johnson, David Phipps and others with comparable integrity. Parking? This is just another smoke screen for the real agenda and the real "infrastructure" coming up later this year.
Yesterday I was pulled over. The officer asked me, "Why did you turn right from the middle of the lane?"
I said, "What?" The cop asked for license and insurance.
When he came back, he said that I should have pulled over to the right to turn right. I pointed out that there was no turn lane - there was only the one lane - there was no other lane to use other than the one I was in. He said that I should have pulled into the right hand part of the lane.
I suspect my facial expressions were incredulous the whole time. I figured I'd be seeing this cop again in Godfrey's municipal court where he could explain further. I kept thinking, does the law say that? Does it say that it's illegal to turn right unless you first drop your wheels into the gutter?
He didn't ticket me. But as I drove on home, I saw somebody else pulled over. Maybe it was a coincidence.
Or maybe Godfrey's spend-a-rama is finally having the wheels fall off and the police have been sent out on revenue duty. Be careful, and we shall see.
H'mmm to quote that famous pillar of truth Adolph Hitler, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it” and " and “How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.” Maybe a Gondola barn next...
Careful driver: you drive like an idiot. Get all the way right, the way the law says, and quit complaining.
Lazy drivers suck.
As a bicycle commuter I would strongly encourage all motorists to pull as far to the right as possible before making a right turn. This is especially important if you don't signal, but even if you do signal, a bicyclist might not see the signal in time and might pull up on your right side which is a very dangerous situation. If there's a bike lane, it's even more important: merge INTO the bike lane before making a right turn! If there's a bicyclist there already, yield the right of way and then move over.
Yes, it's also the law.
people who don't pull over to the right before turning piss me off.
Law and Get Out,
Thanks for your comments. I now see how important it is to crowd all the way to the sidewalk so jerks won't cram their cars into any available space in a non existent right lane, so they don't have to wait behind somebody for a few seconds, and can be on their way to the important ...so important ... things they have going on.
Know anybody like that? Thought so.
So our infrastructure issue just got swept onto the sidewalk, you bent your right front rim on the curb, a cyclist is being dragged under the car, a pedestrian is imbedded in the right front fender and birds are flying from every car in the area. WHO CARES?
As you waste time with this personal and obvious pet peeve non-issue, Blain Johnson could possibly be setting up more non-profit fund raising organizations and planning a potentially illegal scheme to raise funds for candidates in the next election. FOCUS!
LOL
Dear Who Cares,
LOL. You are correct sir!
Mea culpa.
Well of course we need more downtown parking lots. Its not as if the mayor or UTA have helped make public transportation a practical low cost alternative to driving your car downtown.
BR:
And of course rerouting the 603 off 25th Street removed the most heavily ridden bus in the city another full block away from The Junction.
Careful Driver:
Here is Utah traffic law on making right hand turns:
41-6a-801. Turning -- Manner -- Traffic-control devices.
The operator of a vehicle shall make turns as follows:
(1) Right turns: both a right turn and an approach for a right turn shall be made as close as practical to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway.
Now what is practical is up for debate, but from my experience in driving here in Utah, 23+ years, Utahns like to swing wide left to make a right hand turn. I don't see getting two feet from the curb as unreasonable when making a right hand turn. Just my opinion. Plus I work for the sheriff's Office and that's how I interperate the law.
Does anyone know what the deadline is for OPD's traffic ticket quotas? I could be wrong, but it seems like I see a rash of cars pulled over by OPD right around the 20th-25th of each month. Anyone know? Maybe I'm just imagining it.
i for one was surprised, coming from the left coast, at the utter disrespect for the law by utah drivers. i thought the mormon boy scout law and country mantra that they espouse you know the whole cia desirable profile...
would make it so driving was crisp and precise, with good flow and courtesy, a model for a drivers ed film complete with trim haircuts. what i found such a sense of entitlement, such a hypocritical mess of sneaky driving habits.
the whole farm-boy turns wide, coasts stop signs, goes either 10 over or 20 under is not a regional quirk or charming innocent behavior, it is shoddy driving and illegal.
the brake lights when you see a policeman, giving it the gas a mile down the road, while you have a temple recommended? give me a break. speeding kills more babies than the homo crack moms you all are concerned about, but you sneak-speed? LMAO.
utah driver= underskilled hypocrite + hick'ish lawlessness.
Careful Driver...if you're missing your left rear quarter panel and brake light you're welcome to pry it out of my truck grill...BTW..this will happen every time you brake in the middle of the lane without merging right..
Have you been around the Junction lately on any weekend? There is a shortage of parking. The street parking ,which is minimal, is always full. There are additional businesses that have opened in the past few months and the place is very busy. The parking terraces behind the Junction are 75-80 % full at times. We are restricting people from coming downtown because of parking issues and in turn are losing sales tax revenue to other cities. As Junction downtown transforms from the 2 block dirt lot of 5 yearsago to a vibrate business center, we need to support it.
Big G- Perhaps it was not a wise decision by the Mayor to give away parking places at the Junktion. If the mayor would encourage UTA to run more routes downtown people could easily shop without worrying about a alleged lack of parking spaces.
Big G- Perhaps it was not a wise decision by the Mayor to give away parking places at the Junktion. If the mayor would encourage UTA to run more routes downtown people could easily shop without worrying about a alleged lack of parking spaces.
i for one was surprised, coming from the left coast, at the utter disrespect for the law by utah drivers. i thought the mormon boy scout law and country mantra that they espouse you know the whole cia desirable profile...
would make it so driving was crisp and precise, with good flow and courtesy, a model for a drivers ed film complete with trim haircuts. what i found such a sense of entitlement, such a hypocritical mess of sneaky driving habits.
the whole farm-boy turns wide, coasts stop signs, goes either 10 over or 20 under is not a regional quirk or charming innocent behavior, it is shoddy driving and illegal.
the brake lights when you see a policeman, giving it the gas a mile down the road, while you have a temple recommended? give me a break. speeding kills more babies than the homo crack moms you all are concerned about, but you sneak-speed? LMAO.
utah driver= underskilled hypocrite + hick'ish lawlessness.
Dear Who Cares,
LOL. You are correct sir!
Mea culpa.
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