hard deadlines

The Eighties seem like a million years ago, and you probably thought — if you thought about it at all — that the terrorists who brought down PanAm flight 103 just before Christmas in 1988 had been brought to justice. And they had been, sort of, or so we thought. At least one of them. But now, a Scottish review may end up reopening the case:

The commission cast doubt on the testimony of a witness, who changed his story several times and had been shown a photograph of the Libyan official days before picking him out of a lineup. It also challenged evidence presented at the trial that the official had purchased the clothes found in the suitcase that held the bomb.
— Via the New York Times

Just so we remember. Libya formally accepted responsibility for what was, until September 11, the worst act of terrorism committed against US citizens.

Not only did we not invade Libya, but we can't even seem to find one of their terrorists guilty when their own government admits they did it.

As if RIDOT didn't have enough troubles, along comes a study showing that our highway infrastructure is just about the worst in the country.

Although Rhode Island is 49th in state-controlled miles of highway, and although we seem to be taking good care of the portions of the Interstate system within RI (we actually ranked up in the top group here, both for urban and rural), we were dead last in bridges (surprise, surprise) and showed very poorly in rural highway. Here's the blurb:

In 2005, Rhode Island reported 1,102 miles of highway under the state-owned highway system. The state ranked 47th in the performance rankings in 2005 as compared to 36th in 2000. The state’s best ratings were for rural interstate condition (1st), urban interstate condition (1st) and fatality rate (7th). The state scored lowest on deficient bridges (50th), rural primary pavement condition (49th), maintenance disbursements per mile of responsibility (48th), total disbursements per mile of responsibility (45th), capital/bridge disbursements per mile of responsibility (45th), receipts per mile of responsibility (44th), administrative disbursements per mile of responsibility (44th) and urban interstate congestion (43rd). Rhode Island has relatively high costs compared to system condition.

If the RISC and their PCC bedfellows want something to get all het up about, why not try tackling an area where I think we can all agree that our tax dollars are clearly not delivering their appropriate impact? (Hey, remember, if you were at the Town Center meeting the other night, don't forget to send your postcards to our congressfolks.)

Resources:
Read more on the Reason Foundation Web site
Check out the interactive map with the rankings
Hat tip to the ProJo 7to7 News Blog

Disclaimer: I have done no research on the Reason Foundation. But if the RISC folks can quote one study on national education as definitive without being concerned about methodology, what the hell. I can do that too.

More than 150 residents endured a sweltering evening in the Portsmouth High School auditorium to hear and discuss the proposal by the RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the Town Center Committee for dealing with traffic on East Main Road. The solution takes the form of three roundabouts: one at Town Hall, one at Foodworks/Brooks, and one at BankNewport/Clements; it seems like the right idea, but residents had a lot of questions.

Why is the Town Center connected with the traffic project? According to the presenters, the goal is to anticipate and plan for desirable growth. "It's chicken and egg," said Carol Dietz, the chair of the Town Center Committee, who led off the evening with a description of the Town Center project. "We know there's going to be development" on that stretch of East Main Road. But in order to achieve the goals of walkability and character, careful planning is required. "Without traffic calming," she noted, "There is no Town Center."

Is this just more horrible rotaries, like down by the Pell Bridge? Nationally-known traffic consultant and roundabout expert Howard McCullough was on hand to get the residents up to speed on the ideas behind roundabouts. Unlike rotaries many may be familiar with from trips to the Cape, a roundabout is significantly smaller, and this reduction in size actually increases traffic flow by reducing speeds and opening up gaps. Compared to old-fashioned rotaries, said McCullough, "We doubled capacity by making the roundabouts one-third of the size." The key, he said, is "low speed, but continuous movement."

Is it safe? Yes, said McCullough, safety is the reason roundabouts have been picking up momentum across the country. "They are by far the safest at-grade intersection," he said, with astounding data on reductions in both severe and minor accidents, including zero fatal pedestrian or bicycle crashes at US roundabouts. "I can't do anything else to get a 76% reduction in crashes without closing the road."

If roundabouts are so great, why don't we see more of them? Robert Smith, a road design engineer with RIDOT admitted that it had taken their department some time to warm up to the notion of roundabouts, but that it had rapidly become a preferred solution. The only way to really fix East Main, he said, is to "Completely change the character of this road, and that's what we think needs to be done to address this problem."

How will this work? The plan Smith showed, with four 11-foot-wide travel lanes, a center median that would provide a stopping place for pedestrians, and wider shoulders would be 56 feet in total, an increase 16 feet, and there is continuing refinement of just how the roundabouts would be oriented to minimize impact on abutting propoerties. At present, the plan is in the study and development phase, and the next step, getting on the State's Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) and proceeding to a 30% design phase could take up to three years.

Town Center chair Dietz stressed the need for citizens to reach out to our Congressional delegation, and even had pre-printed postcards available to contact Kennedy, Reed, and Whitehouse. "It won't happen anytime soon without your help," she added.

The presentations lasted only an hour, but the Q&A went on until 10pm. There were a lot of great questions and observations. Questioned about the width of the road and eminent domain, Smith stressed that RIDOT aimed to do projects with a minimum of impact, and that there was no financial impact on the Town in cases where there was a need to reimburse homeowners.

The question of short-term fixes came up more than once, especially the urgent problem of pedestrian crossings. Bob Roccio, a RIDOT traffic engineer got up to field that one, and stressed that an infrequently used press-to-walk signal can lull pedestrians into a false sense of security, and that local drivers who rarely see it red are most likely to run it.

Given that the roundabout proposal seemed to be the right answer, Town Councilor Len Katzman urged RIDOT to act quickly. "We need a comprehensive solution. With the injuries and fatalities, I don't know how there could be a higher priority."

Sal Carcellar made the excellent point that we have Route 24 dumping traffic into Portsmouth, and the real solution to the pass-through volume is a highway that connects all the way through to Newport. Smith agreed wholeheartedly: "It would give you back East and West Main," he said, but noted that when RIDOT proposed it — twice before — they were "run off the island."

Asked if solutions for East Main are really either/or, (for example, could there be a traffic light at East Main and Hedley in the short term) Smith seemed open. "If it gets into the TIP, we'll still look at the short term," he said. "In the past, we have taken interim measures."

While the general sense of the questions was pretty positive about the roundabout proposal, there was also a lot of frustration about the 7-10 year timeframe. While I think we should all do what Carol Dietz proposed, and contact our congresscritters, I think there are probably still tactical measures that need to happen in the short term. But at least RIDOT heard this firsthand, and the citizens of Portsmouth did a good job tonight getting their concerns out on the table.

The Portsmouth Town Council this evening formally approved the budget for 2007-2008 in the amount of $38,442,817, a number which came within the Paiva-Weed tax cap, and yet managed to address the major concerns of the Prudence Island (PI) school (closing has been delayed), school warrants (approved for this year), civic support (most organizations got some additional funding), and even Hog Island solid waste (level funded, rather than cut.) How did they do all that?

There is this famous Sidney Harris cartoon, with two professors at a chalkboard full of equations, where one step is "Then a miracle occurs." The caption is one professor speaking, "I think you need to be more explicit here in step two." I got to the budget discussion fifteen minutes late, at 5:45, and I feel like that second professor. According to multiple sources, there was a lot of negotiating prior to the meeting, but the end result was a way to fund PI and support the warrants. (Although, according to several people who were there, Karen Gleason indicated that she didn't want to vote for the school warrant items, preferring the money to go to the Senior Center.)

Deputy Town Clerk Joanne Mower officially reads the Budget Ordinance.

But I'm just giddy that we actually have a budget in place, and sitting there, listening to the traditional reading of the ordinance, I felt myself physically relaxing. Yes, there was some quibbling tonight, but the description that Council President Dennis Canario offered of the process seemed spot on.

"We had our public meeting on June 20th," said Canario, "And we heard your concerns. What you saw here tonight was the Town Council addressing your concerns. We did what was in the best interests of the town as a whole, not any one agenda." I have to agree, and congratulate everyone involved.

Were there some fireworks tonight? Yeah, some, but nothing like what I was expecting. In discussing whether it would be possible to buy the three Police cars that the department needs, Tailgunner Gleason managed to blurt the following sentence: "We can't keep jeopardizing safety in this community over academics."

"Nobody's talking about safety here," retorted Jim Seveney. "We're trading off a new vehicle for higher maintenance." Indeed, as Chief Hebert pointed out, even with 3-year warranties, Police cars reach the end of their useful front-line life pretty quickly, and a three-year-old car with 90K miles is equivalent to a personal vehicle with 180K. Although the Council voted to only fund one new vehicle, Hebert was stoic about the result. "We knew we would have to change the way we do business," he said. "We're the Police; we take our marching orders and we do our job."

The council voted unanimously to fund a performance audit for the schools, and to level-fund Hog Island waste. Then, Jim Seveney proposed a scheme for allocating a $30K chunk across the civic support groups which had received only token funding in the first round. He proposed adding $1,000 to the Substance Abuse Task Force, and $500 to many of the "B" and "C" groups, with a few larger appropriations for East Bay Community Action Program ($8K), Newport County Community Mental Health($8K), and the Newport County Women's Resource center($3K). Oh, and an additional $1K for the Anthony House.

Gleason was fine with the money for Anthony House, but she tore into the big ticket items. "I know a lot about these agencies," she said. "They get an awful lot of funding. We're over the top here. Put it into the Senior Center and the Library."

Canario calmly asked, "You're recommending we do not fund mental health?"

Pete McIntyre jumped in. "East Bay Community Action — aren't they getting block grants? A lot of these organizations are double dipping." (To Mr. McIntyre's credit, when I asked him after the meeting if the Anthony House, owned and run by Church Community Housing which receives Federal housing money was also "double dipping," he said yes. I did not, however, hear him raise an objection to increasing their funding during the meeting. He may be commended for being intellectually consistent, but that was not reflected in his public comments this evening.)

After much discussion, the motion was made to take the $19K from the three organizations, give $10K to the Senior Center, and split the rest with the organizations three ways. Gleason was still opposed, "These agencies get millions and millions of dollars," she screeched, but her motion to only fund the Women's Resource Center was defeated, and the planned division of a third each passed.

There were a few miscellaneous items: new Jaws of Life, service on communications equipment, and an inflatable boat for the Fire Department. I'm glad to know they funded those things. Listening to Chief Lynch describe the two sets of Jaws the FD has now (the best of which, at 20-years-old is marginal but repairable, the other, 30-year-old unit isn't working properly) I really didn't care WHERE they found the money.

There were still about 25 citizens present when the budget discussion ended and the Council meeting itself began at 7pm. After the usual administrivia and reports (the most significant item was that there will be a special 1-hour focus on wastewater at the next Council meeting) they took up and passed the budget. PCC, Inc. President Larry Fitzmorris took the podium to complain that they did not include a full description of all the financial items being voted in the budget, as per Town Charter, but it was a seemingly minor quibble (Although, I'm sure that there was some rationale behind it. If only I were a member of the PCC, then I'd understand this stuff too...)

In the only other item of substance, the Council voted to have Town Solcitor Gavin work up language to support a new dock on the South-West side of Hog Island, where a resident requested our help in obtaining a Coastal Resources Management variance in exchange for allowing the Town to use the dock for access to the fire truck garaged on the West side of the island.

Future meetings: the August 1st public hearing on the development moratorium will be held at the Middle School (Preserve Portsmouth folks, mark your calendars!) and there was no word yet on whether the Target submission was substantially complete. Meeting adjourned when it was still light outside, which was very disorienting. I'm used to stumbling out into the parking lot, exhausted, in the middle of the night.

But sometimes, in Step 2, a miracle occurs.