January 14, 2005
Friday

In addition to the many safety concerns raised about the 3rd Avenue Bypass, I would also like to call attention to another serious safety hazard that has resulted as a "byproduct" of the Bypass. I am referring to the hazardous icy sheet covering an extensive section of the sidewalk and one lane of traffic at the inter-section of White Cliff and Second Avenue.

The sheet ice/black ice is so bad pedestrians cannot walk on the sidewalk and have to walk out in the street to bypass the hazard. That puts them in the center of Second Avenue. The situation for both pedestrians and vehicles sets the scenario for accidents waiting to happen.

While there have been drainage problems here for quite a while [I know because I slipped on the black ice under a skiff of snow two years ago and broke my shoulder], the conditions were nothing like they have become since the 3rd Avenue Bypass projects turned the original, natural drainage system to hamburger. This run-off situation at White Cliff and Second is but one of the results of the Bypass, but it is one that presents an immediate danger to the citizens of Ketchikan that needs to be fixed before someone is either killed or seriously injured.

Mike Dunning
Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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