Sometimes the people are quick to speak, slow to act
One of the activities my wife and I participate in is cleaning up a stretch of Hwy. 113 between Woodland and Davis for the Davis Odd Fellows. We’ll put on hard hats, bright orange vests and slowly make our way through the weeds and brush between the roadway and fence that signifies private property, picking up cans, bottles, car batteries and all sorts of trash, stuff the junk in bags and leave them on the roadside for pickup by Caltrans.
Bear in mind this isn’t something we have to do. It is, after all, California property, meaning it’s the job of Caltrans staff. But I don’t mind doing my little bit.
That was going through my mind last Saturday as I watched while 100 people turned out for Woodland’s Community Clean Up on the north side of East Main Street between East Street and Interstate 5. The property is technically owned by the railroad.
I was interested in what people would think about the project so I monitored our Facebook page to see community reaction. I know Facebook is not representative of the town as a whole, but the responses were gladdening and disheartening.
One of the more prevalent comments was that the city should “make the homeless” clean up the road. I laughed at that because the thought of city staff sending out people (probably the police) to “round up” the homeless and forcing them to pick up the trash seemed about as realistic as me stopping traffic on Hwy. 113 and forcing motorists to do the same.
One person wrote that the city should make the property owner responsible. That’s a nice thought by someone who has never dealt with railroad companies. They are under federal and state jurisdictions.
There were a few “thank you’s” but most people offered advice or complaints.
I don’t know how many of these computer jockeys actually turned out and picked up trash that Saturday but my guess is not many.
Then there was the story about a planned pedestrian overcrossing designed to connect east and western sides of south Woodland. The Sports Park Drive Pedestrian Overcrossing is meant to give people in the southeast access to the recreation fields at the Community & Senior Center on the west and Pioneer High on the east. It would cut down on traffic and keep people safe.
Again, people felt free to express themselves, something I found more than a bit odd because I’ve been covering the City Council for years now and none of these armchair experts ever appeared before the council to object to, support or offer alternatives when the overcrossing was first envisioned.
Some comments went like this: “... improve bike lanes in town!!! ... Why don’t you put bike lane & sidewalk all the way on road 98 from W. Main to Kentucky! The same way you did W. Main going south to 98 city limit! WHY? Cuz homes are not as high value on N. West side of town? And what about crappy Kentucky Av. from N. West St. to Rd. 98!? You spend a lot of $ & time on Wavis AND STOP taking away farm land ” We’ll, there’s someone who has a lot to say. CR-98 is in the county and not the city of Woodland and is also overseen by Caltrans. As for the West Kentucky Avenue work, it’s on the list, and will cost around $16 million when it gets underway years from now, after Gibson Road and Gum Avenue. But I suppose the work could get started earlier if the city were to increase taxes to pay for it and other roadwork.
One other person wanted to the city to build the long-talked about connection ramp between Hwy. 113 and I-5. That’s a great idea which has been looked at since the late 1980s; and if the city had the estimated $100 million it might do so, provided it could get approval from Caltrans and federal highway officials, which have been debating financing for years. Of course, if the city simply implemented its power of eminent domain it might go a lot quicker, although the businesses in that area might not be happy.
I don’t mind people who express their opinions, but it would be nice if they took time to find out what they were talking about.
Jim Smith is editor of The Daily Democrat. He can be reached at news@dailydemocrat.com.