Skip to main content

Pet Peeves and Pedestrians

Sunday morning I asked the following question on Facebook:



What's your (local) pet peeve?

I got a boat-load of responses. Here they are:

Street sweepers. Really? My money is paying for that 2 times per year???

Car drivers that ignore traffic coming from Sohap, at the stop sign at Oakland Mills Road and Sohap Lane.

Well we kinda covered it this morning, but people who loiter and hurl trash and beer bottles on the ground. They have no respect for how hard the rest of us have worked so that we all have a nice place to live. Then they wonder why businesses pack up move elsewhere.

Cigarette butts thrown out of car windows and on the ground...the world is my ashtray. We should implement that $1500 littering fine.

No bike rack at the elementary school.

The fine should be $1500 normally and $3000 if you have a "Choose Civility" sticker on your car.

Julia Jackson McCready Well, you got me going pondering a blog post. I know that X. has serious issues with people who let their dogs use the pathways as bathrooms...

I only get to pick one?

Julia Jackson McCready Oh, go to town! It just has to be local.

No bike rack at my apartment complex!

The general request for the need for "walkability" when no one wants to walk more than 50 feet to get into a store...or the gym.

Julia Jackson McCready I'll get right on that!

Julia Jackson McCready I mean, in reference to the bike rack.

Julia Jackson McCready As to walkability, I don't agree. It is people like my daughter (26) who want walkability, and they really do walk! Amazing, but they do and they think all this driving is lame.

I'd walk everywhere if I could. And had all the time in the world. (I know, it's apartment-specific, so I have to bug them. Re: bike rack.)

There are many, many people who like to walk, or bike around town. The people who annoy me are the ones who "claim" to want walkability and then complain when they can't get a close parking space.

Julia Jackson McCready Ah...

Don't know if its all schools but Bryant Woods doesn't have a bike rack.

I cannot stand when people blow through stop signs, Thunder Hill RD, especially when I am at the cross walk with the furries starting to cross! Someone is gonna die before action is taken!

Julia Jackson McCready The crosswalk at Thunder Hill and Whiteacre has been repainted several times, but the paint fades almost immediately, what is up with that?

Even fresh they do not see it...be careful!

And walkability is why we chose Columbia over Ellicott city. It is a huge thing for us. HUGE.... As we just biked to Centennial safely. And walk to schools safely. And scenically.

Seriously, I cannot count how many almost accidents I have seen and how many people have nearly been hit there due to people not stopping! I have waited several minutes there to cross as people will not stop!!!!

Julia Jackson McCready I know. Do we need a light?

I do not know about a light, but the humps may help. I think that traffic calming like they have infront of Oakland Mills Middle or High would be AWESOME.

Oh and another thing, when they drive 60+ down the midde turn lane! So dangerous!!!!!

I hate it when people blow through the red lights. Happens on almost every light where I see 3-4 cars begin to turn AFTER the light has already turned red. Throws off the whole traffic pattern! Also, the fact that no one seems to understand that pedestrians have the right-of-way. I hate trying to cross in a parking lot and fearing having my toes run over. And if we're getting really local, though it isn't in Columbia, I HATE the intersection outside of my house. (Laurel) Too many accidents, way too many close calls. It also brings out the worst in people.

People taking a a right turn onto Tamar, doing a U-turn at full speed in the middle of Tamar, and then turning right back onto 175 just to avoid sitting at the red light a couple of minutes!

Julia Jackson McCready Yow!

All of the above and for speeding cars on Thunder Hill Road.

Julia Jackson McCready Lord, hear our prayer.

People who slow down for the speed humps on Elliot's Oak Rd. If you drive the speed limit, there is NO need to slow down. They are the best laid out speed humps in Columbia.

Ooh. I never thought about that.

Oh, those are also the people who slow way down for the speed humps and immediately speed up too fast only to slow waaay down again for the next one. I think unkind thoughts regularly.

That would make me carsick!

1- people not stopping at the crosswalk at Thunder Hill and Whiteacre to let these children cross the road 2- people not stopping at stop signs on Thunder Hill Rd. at Sohap and Oakland mills Rd at Sohap! It is unreal!

Re walkability: lack of sidewalks/bike lanes because it is assumed that people will drive from say, Hickory Ridge Rd to Stevens Forest Rd. Or along Oakland Mills & up Snowden River Parkway to do shopping.

*****

Notice anything? A lot of them have to do with the pedestrian experience. I'm going to focus on the Walkability issue in tomorow's blog post.

I noticed something else, as well. When I asked folks to get excited about Columbia, I received zero responses. Pet peeves? Forty-one.

hocoblogs@@@



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

What Kids Are Thinking

  It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed.  Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings.  And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...
1 comment
Read more