Petaluma Railroad Crossings Are Still Out of Control–Update

My previous post Petaluma Railroad Crossings Are Still Out Of Control! generated many e-mail responses and some discussion on Petaluma Nextdoor.  Admittedly, I was somewhat taken aback by incidents reported by others in these responses—all of which makes me wonder how bad things are on the rest of the line in Sonoma & Marin Counties.  It can’t just be here in Petaluma.

There were no responses from the authorities responsible for correcting the situation.

I have been repeatedly urged to make suggestions about how to deal with this situation and I am not going to give any such advice as the traffic and driving situations vary so much.

What YOU can do, however, is report these situations whenever you encounter them… but do so in a safe manner. Do not text or send e-mails while driving!!

Perhaps corrective actions will finally be taken.

REPORTING INFORMATION

The agency responsible for the tracks is SMART (Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit)

SMART REPORTING INFORMATION

• PHONE Railroad Crossings:  888-412-3330 (toll free) to report an emergency on the SMART roadway/rail grade crossing (stalled vehicle blocking crossing, suspected problems with crossing gate function, or any other emergency). For a fire or police emergency always call 9-1-1.
• E-Mail info@sonomamarintrain.org

 

Petaluma Railroad Crossings Are Still Out Of Control!

Frankly, I CANNOT believe I am having to tell this story…Again! Fortunately, this time we avoided damage to our vehicle.

I was foolish to believe that any serious corrective action would be taken after the close call we had with the total lack of coordination of the railroad signals and traffic lights on Lakeville & D Streets in December 2012.  For details of that event, go to Railroad crossing arms close on Petaluma couple’s car at green light.

Today, I observed that the Same Dangerous Lack of Coordination is still manifest–this time at Lakeville and East Washington.

• We were headed downtown this morning and stopped at the red light on Lakeville and East Washington. As in December 2012, I was the passenger in the vehicle.
• Our light turned green for East Washington traffic and within a few seconds the railroad lights started flashing and the arms came down.
• At least two cars continued through the intersection driving past the arms as they were lowering.
• The traffic light stayed green throughout the event.

Fortunately, I caught a few photos through the windshield to document this lack of coordination between the two signal systems.

Photo Notes

About 5 seconds passed before I took the first photo of the scene…

9:37:22am

Here is another…eleven seconds later…

9:37:33am

A minute later these railroad cars appeared…stopped at this location…then reversed and left the scene without crossing East Washington.

The arms went up and the traffic light finally went from green to red!

9:38:09am

Fortunately there were no vehicles in the intersection at the time the arms finished closing–how the two that did pass through made it was pure foolish luck on their part.

Given the overall incompetence displayed here in failing to coordinate the lights, it will only be a matter of time before there are serious injuries or worse.

I dare anyone in authority to explain this kind of screwup…much less defend it!

A Sign (Signs?) That Mirrors Our Time (Times)?

NOTE: Also offered as a second submission to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge–Mirror

First Reflection…

Recent Missing Person Poster in American Alley…The 1997 case is still unsolved

Second Reflection…

Putnam Plaza Petaluma CA

Third Reflection…

Identify Yourself

Fourth Reflection…

Trump

Sigh…

Walking The 101…

…even if pedestrians are not legal on a California Freeway!

I captured this image of a “traveler” (a.k.a. hitchhiker) on the side of the freeway by the Sonoma/Marin line…

Walkin’ The 101

Given the increasing gridlock congestion on 101, he was progressing faster than we were…

Walkin’ The 101

However, lane splitting motorcycles move faster than anyone…

Splitting The 101

Missing Roomba Alert!

I am passing this on immediately in hopes that someone or somebody will locate this missing Petaluma Droid!

Details and owner contact information below photo…

Roomba Missing!

“As of last Tuesday, July 5, at 11 am, my Robot Roomba 650 Vacuum Robot went missing. I’m pretty sure he went out the side door. Petaluma isn’t that big, but on a full charge, a Roomba has a range of several miles.  Until he runs out power.  Roombas are notorious for going rogue.  I’m sooooo bummed.  This is the droid  you’re looking for! Your help is appreciated.”

Ohana Construction–The People’s Choice

Petaluma’s Argus Courier sponsors an annual awards event for local businesses…known as the People’s Choice awards. “The contest… gives members of the public a chance to vote for their favorite local business and service in more than 70 different categories.” (Petaluma Argus Courier)

Ohana Construction won as Best Contractor for 2016.  As a point of information, this is the third such award won by Ohana. We have contracted with Ohana Construction numerous times and just finished a major project with them in June.

We believe that a major factor in their service is the quality of their people and their associate contractors.  They are all consistently friendly, hard working, and dedicated to their crafts.

Perhaps the clue is in the name “Ohana”–Do a Google Definition search to learn the meaning of the word.

Here are a few images of Team Ohana on our recent project…

Some of the associated contractors Ohana employed on our recent project…

• M & S Custom Cabinetry
• Empire Shower Doors
• Bill Boyd Tile
• Whelan Floors