CITY BEAT: CHRISTMAS SEASON MEMORIES FILLED WITH SPECIAL PLACES AND FAMILY GATHERINGS

     If you are like me the Christmas season is filled with special memories of people, places and family gatherings.
     When I was a kid our family members would gather at my grandparents’ house in Hammond, the small community 20 miles east of Decatur.
     The day was filled with constant conversations between the Bolin family members — my uncles, aunts, cousins and, of course, my mom and dad and older brother.
     There was always the big Christmas dinner and exciting stories that were told about my uncles’ World War II experiences, sports, and about any other subject known to man.
     As a boy I was always eager to hear all of the stories, along with a generous dose of humor, that made those family gatherings so special.
     All of those childhood memories of Christmas gatherings become more precious as the years, and decades, pass by in my life.
     My grandparents, parents, brother, uncles and aunts have passed on and now the family gatherings during the Christmas season are at our house.
     Although the Christmas season is a time when memories of past gatherings are renewed, I also enjoy making new memories each time our family gathers and appreciate the blessing my wife and I have in now being the parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents of our family.
     I hope that you also have pleasant memories of past gatherings at Christmastime and will be making new memories this Christmas season.

     • THE RAILROAD crossing at Route 51 South and Grove Road is really in bad shape! Anytime I drive over it, I think those railroad ties are loose enough to destroy the under-carriage of my car!
     I hope the crossing is repaired before a vehicle is seriously damaged or a driver (or passenger) is injured or killed.
     It seems to me it is a little worse every time I drive over that crossing.
     It’s only my opinion, but I think it is an accident waiting to visit a vehicle going over the crossing.

     • THE PLAN — Earlier this month the City of Decatur revealed the results of the Comprehensive Transportation Safety Action Plan, which is “a citywide effort focused on improving the safety, accessibility, and usability of our streets for everyone, including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders.”
     The 82-page report of findings has a lot of information to digest and is available to all on the City of Decatur’s website.
I found a couple of paragraphs in the report of particular interest, although not surprising.
     “The overall data shows a concerning trend that the City has a high percentage of crashes involving alcohol and drugs, but the severity of those crashes seemed comparable to other cities…
     “The adjusted crash rates show that the City of Decatur has an issue with crashes involving alcohol and drugs. In almost all comparisons the adjusted crash rates were disproportionately worse for the City of Decatur when compared to other cities. When comparing alcohol and drug crashes related to vehicle miles travelled, Decatur was four to six times worse than the other cities. When alcohol and drug crashes were compared adjusting for population the City of Decatur was two to 4 times worse for overall crashes when compared to all of the comparable cities in Illinois, while only being slightly better than the City of Racine. When comparing the severity of these crashes adjusted for population Decatur was 1.5 to 2 times worse than all other cities.
     “When adjusting for population density Decatur was 1.5 to 8 times worse in both total alcohol and drug related crashes and severity of those crashes.”

     • THE REPORT also pointed out some of the roads and intersections which seem to be crash problems:
     “The public identified speeding as the primary concern on W Wood Street and the primary concern on E Wood Street is roadway and sidewalk conditions.
     “W Wood Street has been identified by the public for a lot of speeding vehicles, and this has been confirmed by crash statistics. One of the primary issues is the lack of a posted speed limit. Adding a 25 MPH speed limit sign would help to inform drivers of the correct speed of travel. The other recommendation is to add raised pedestrian crossings at the following intersections:
• W Wood Street & S Oakcrest Avenue
• W Wood Street & S Dennis Avenue
• W Wood Street & S Taylor Avenue
• W Wood Street & S McClellan Avenue
• W Wood Street & S Hawthorn Avenue
• W Wood Street & S Church Street

     • FROM MY experience in driving Decatur streets and roads, many drivers do not pay any attention to speed limit signs or traffic signals.
     Franklin Street downtown is posted with 25 mph speed limit signs and I would guess very few drivers pay any attention.
When they zoom past me when I’m walking to the post office, or trying to cross the street in front of the post office, I would guess a sizeable number of them are driving 15 to 20 miles per hour over the posted speed limit through downtown!
Yikes!!!!

     • MORE — Both the public and the crash data have identified speeding as a prevalent issue on N Oakland Avenue. (I can confirm that finding from personal experience.)
High Priority Intersections listed in the report were:
1. W Eldorado Street & N Main Street
2. E Eldorado Street & N Martin Luther King Jr Drive
3. W Eldorado Street & N Pine Street
4. W Eldorado Street & N Oakland Avenue
5. E Eldorado Street & N 20th Street
6. E Eldorado Street & N Illinois Street
7. E Eldorado Street & N Jasper Street
8. E Eldorado Street & N Franklin Street
Check out the results because I’ve only covered very few findings that are contained in the 82-page document.

     THE CITY’S website also states about the report: “Every year, traffic-related incidents impact the well-being of individuals and families across our city. This plan is a proactive approach to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities with the goal to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities by 2040, enhance equitable access, and promote community engagement.”
     Wow! The goal is to “eliminate serious injuries and fatalities by 2040!”
     I will admit there is a lot to do and fix but the goal is to have it fixed in 15 years from now!!!!
     Maybe stopping people from disobeying traffic laws would fix a lot of the problem.
     The problem isn’t roads or streets. It’s a reckless driver problem!
     Stay safe out there — whether you are walking or driving.

     • I WILL BE back talking with Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. after the holidays on Jan. 8th. That’s something we’ve done most Thursdays for the past 23 years!

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