Situation on Sanford
Here We Go Again...
by Jim Gerrish
Sunday, 01/04/15 - For the previous history of this problem,
refer to "Who's In Charge" dated 5/11/14.
This year's "Situation on Sanford" started off with
an explosion in the sewer that sent the manhole cover (and you
can see that is it one of the heavy cast iron covers) high into
the air and crashing down on the side of Sanford Street. Luckily,
no one was beneath it when it landed. (Interesting Parallel Story from 02/04/15) This
took place on the previous night, Saturday, 01/03/15, at about
8:00 PM. At the time I saw it, smoke was coming from the open
sewer. I called 911 and reported that the open sewer hole was
damaging the wheels of cars whose drivers were too stupid to slow
down. A concerned citizen passerby placed a city trash can next
to the sewer hole as a warning to cars, but it wasn't long before
a car collided with the trash can and sent it flying - collision
number one.
Eventually someone from the city showed up and dragged the
manhole cover back on top of the hole, and they would have left
it as a "mission accomplished" but I called PSE&G
andf told them about the explosion and the smoke and the smell of
gas that had been noticed in the general area some days prior to
the explosion.
That brought out the PSE&G Worry-Free Truck and soon the
PSE&G man was attempting to get out to the covered sewer to
run some tests with a gas detector, but the traffic was too heavy
and as usual, no one was obeying the speed limit. Finally he
contacted the police who sent a car to protect him so he could
run his tests safely. He then erected an elegant chimney
structure similar to the one that was put up last May, but with
more warning signs and traffic cones. I'm sorry I didn't get a
photo, but it was very dark and I stupidly thought it would at
least survive until morning.
It lasted until 1:35 AM on Sunday 01/04/15. Second collision.
A car slammed into the structure and then sped off again, leaving
scattered traffic cones, the chimney thing, and broken pieces of
the signs scattered down Sanford Street as far South as Edgar
Street. Again I called 911 and a police car arrived. The officer
dragged parts of the structure back into place as shown in the
photo above, and this time a relief car was sent to guard the
site, so I was able to get the above photo with the aid of the
police car's headlights.
Later, about 2:25 AM, another police car and a city Public
Works truck had arrived and they added some more traffic cones
and some red tape to the "fence" around the sewer, and
by 2:40 AM all the cars had gone and the structure was left to
await the next collision. As I stated back in May of 2014, the next collision will NOT be an
accident. Putting a rickety structure in the middle of a busy
street and then abandoning it, hoping no one will run into it, is
NEGLIGENCE. Pray that no one is injured or killed in the next
collision.
From past experience, I am sure there will be more to come on
this New Year's "Situation on Sanford."
01/04/15 - 5:30 AM - The Third Collision between a passing
car and the PSE&G structure just took place. This time the
person at 911 was "snippy" and decided that I should no
longer "bother" them with news of these collisions,
which they have decided are not dangerous and not worthy of a 911
call. So I called the East Orange police directly, and the desk
person told me that they had already contacted PSE&G about
this and that it was their problem, even though I told them that
this was a new incident. They are beginning to regard me as a
nuisance for reporting cars colliding into the debris and sending
traffic cones flying in all directions. You'll notice that at
least four of the cones are no longer on top of the sewer hole.
That's because they were knocked half-way south to Edgar Street.
It doesn't seem to occur to anyone that people actually walk down
the sidewalks of Sanford Street and are in danger of getting
injured from the flying debris. This is truly becoming a problem
of NEGLIGENCE and DISREGARD FOR PUBLIC SAFETY. Maybe I'm using
the wrong buzz words. Maybe I should complain about the QUALITY
OF LIFE ISSUES involved.
For the record, I called PSE&G again to report this third
collision, made sure they made a recording of our conversation (I
spoke to Mr. Forehand), and let them know that I felt there was a
serious danger of a lawsuit over this situation if anyone gets
hurt.
01/04/15 - 7:30 AM - Two Hours have gone by and no one
has responded to my calls. So much for "concern for public
safety in East Orange." The sun has just begun to rise so
you can see the photos a little better. The top photo shows the
familiar (by now) corner of Sanford and Melrose, with the debris
from the third collision. Notice the white PSE&G sign that
would have severely injured anyone standing on the sidewalk where
it landed. The bottom photo shows the strength of impact of the
third collision, with four of the traffic cones knocked down to
the intersection of Edgar Street, and one more cone knocked down
past Wayne Avenue.
The blue line has been added as a "plumb" line for
comparison with the angle of tilt of the chimney.
Sunday, 01/04/15 - 11:00 AM - I am guessing that while I
finally got some sleep, PSE&G showed up and put up another
chimney over the sewer to vent away the gas and keep it from
exploding again. For now. It is good that the PSE&G workers
finally figured out to use fewer traffic cones to limit the
amount of stuff that goes flying after a collision. Because as
experience has shown in the photos above, it's not a matter of
"if" but a matter of "when" another speeding
car or truck slams into their work of art before they can go
underground and really fix the problem of leaking gas. Until that
happens, I will keep adding to this page with the continuing
story of our true "quality of life" in East Orange. The
East Orange Police Department could help by erecting one of those
radar signs that tells motorists how fast they are traveling in a
25 MPH zone, but I doubt that they will do so since they see this
as a problem belonging exclusively to PSE&G.
01/05/15 - 10:11 AM -I hope this is the end of
the "Situation." PSE&G workmen are on the job now
and have already sealed up the problem sewer opening. They are
painting mysterious blue lines on the street so I assume that
means they intend to come back and work on it some more, but at
least the street will have one less hazard in it when they finish
for the day. Now if the East Orange police could only get the
cars to drive at the speed limit on Sanford Street, this might
eventually become a safe place to live once again.
The blue line has been added as a "plumb" line for
comparison with the angle of tilt of the chimney.
Monday, 01/05/15 - 4:30 PM - I spoke too soon.
By the time I checked back on the "Situation" the
chimney was back in the street, this time tilted towards the
north with the manhole cover resting on the north side from which
most of the impacts have been coming. The damage to the car that
hits it from the north will be more severe as a result. Also,
note that there is an amber warning light on this (east) side of
the stand. It is a slow blinking solitary light and it remains to
be seen if it is effective in warding off the next collision, or
if it will merely add to the danger from flying debris. Place
your bets, ladies and gentlemen!
Tuesday, 01/06/15 - 9:41 AM. A new complication
has been added to the "Situation." Does this increase
the risk of a collision or lower it? Notice that the tire tracks
from south-bound vehicles goes behind the chimney, and if you
imagine that cars slow down because of that little maneuver, you
don't know New Jersey drivers. To their credit, the PSE&G
vehicles and workers are in place, although how much work they
will get done in the snow is debatable.
01/11/15 Sometime last
night (01/10/15), the fourth collision took place, leaving the
PSE&G equipment looking like the above photo on the left. You
can see from the photo on the right, taken from the north, that
the entire chimney "structure" was spun around 180
degrees, while everything was pushed to the north (the blue plumb
line shows the center of the sewer hole), including one traffic
cone that went flying onto the sidewalk. The green trash basket
was presumably put back in place by a bored policeman with
nothing else to do last night, since the basket had been shoved
down the street to the south by the very first collision that
took place back on January 3rd. I had wondered who in the city
was responsible for taking care of things like that, and now I
know. The bored policeman was there late last night, when it was
too dark to take photos. I guess he reported the incident, sat in
his car for a while, and then went away after an hour or two of
nothing more to do. Since today is Sunday, and NO ONE IN THE CITY
WORKS ON SUNDAYS, I am guessing that the debris will remain where
it is until Monday. Any bets on that one?
