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The Campbell Road slippery slope
Campbell Avenue is open and I know
that’s a good thing, especially for the residents and businesses along the
thoroughfare directly impacted by the closure. It does deserve a round of
high-fives (someone was looking for a congratulatory Talespin, so there it is.)
Earlier this week, the city opened
the road – after doing extensive work on the water and sewer lines – without
touching the embankment. The work for that has not even gone out to bid yet.
But, I am a bit confused on the
sequence of events.
In February, when the city closed
Campbell Avenue, City Engineer Russ Reeves said: “At this point we are
aggressively proceeding with engineering mediation. The repair scheme is to
restore the strength and integrity of the embankment.”
 |
| Brunswick Road landslide |
When Reeves said the above
statement, it was the city’s belief soil samples showed conditions similar to
those that precipitated the Brunswick Road landslide in 2011 that leveled a
couple buildings, did irreparable damage to a few more and a couple more had to
be torn down, just in case the bank again decided to give up and again succumb
to gravity. I was working that day, and it was a “holy s&*#” type of scene.
 |
| Reeves |
So based on a bunch of engineering
data, the city closed Campbell Avenue to traffic in fear of the same thing
happening and a car or two ending up at the bottom of the embankment along with
a bunch of mud. That was four months ago. And now it’s open and the slope hasn’t
been touched.
I asked the city why, if the slope
was so dangerous (slippery), the road is open without doing any repairs, and I was told
it’s because “water levels at the base of the slope have dropped substantially
and have gotten more stable as summer approached."
The reason Campbell Avenue was in
such dire shape, according to the city, is that Hurricane Irene – or Tropical
Storm Irene – soaked the ground past the saturation point. Just to put that in
perspective, Irene ripped through the Capital District near the end of August,
the Brunswick Road landslide happened on Aug. 31. Campbell Avenue was closed
about six months later.
Another thing to point out is that
since Irene is the culprit the city did apply to FEMA for aid in fixing the
slope and the city is expecting some $1.3 million to help correct the
devastating damage Irene did to Campbell Avenue.
To play the devil’s advocate,
here’s a possible scenario - the city prematurely closed Campbell’s Avenue with
dire warnings and much fanfare. Given the public outcry, it realized it couldn’t
open the road again without some kind of rational explanation or at least an explanation … And Irene was handy, if
not a stretch.
Anyway, the road is open. And that is a good thing even though there are many who think it should never have been closed because the slope really wasn't all that slippery to begin with.
Labels: brunswick road, campbell avenue, Reeves
posted by Talespin at
Friday, June 22, 2012
32 Comments:
Russ another act of god !!! That's your excuse all the time when you don't fix problems from an old city, Russ loves using excuses especially when it comes to old pipes he simply says it's an act of god,maybe its Russ just not performing his job and keeping up with an old city, Who's Russ gonna fight with next in code watch your back guys
Willie must have blessed the embankment for Lou. It's safe now
Willie blessed it for the kids!
Not Willie Kevin McGrath laid his hands on the road
drove by rev. willie's church today, what are you kidding me. it's no church. it' a freaking flea market 8 days a week. who would even think of attending services their, in the basement. all you see is furniture everwhere. come mayor, do something about this mess. does he have a permit, where his he get all this crap, does he pay sales tax and where does all the money go, what a joke.
sheeran seems pretty upset swhile posting at 1:127
@1:17 I must agree w/ you Dave you hit the nail right on the head, Russ seems to have an excuse all the time ,,,hey Russ Troy is an old old city it need TLC stop blaming GOD!!!! It's only going to get worse, nice job with the new side walks I'd bet the social service families love them I'd also bet the side walks look better then there apts, and the house there living in ,,,Troy needs a wreaking ball not new side walks,,get rid of the slumlords properties,,
Maybe Russ opened it for the kids.
Russ Reeves, Captain Pensive....
They opened it for the kids!
Tell me Mr. Franco, if the road were to remain open, then how would the underlying water and sewer lines be replaced, through osmosis? Your being the DEVILS ADVOCATE is the same as the ACT OF GOD defense. True to your constant crybaby column, OPEN MOUTH, INSERT FOOT.
@8:15 a.m. ... The city didn't close the road to replace the water and sewer lines. It closed the road because the slope was in danger of collapse and the water and sewer lines were replaced after the fact while work on the slope hasn't even gone to bid yet. I am simply pointing out the sequence of events as they happened.
Judging by ypur lack of understanding and mis-information, I have to say that it appears you have NOT visited or looked at this problem. Some of the bank stabilization has occurred. I live extremely close to this pending disaster and ha e witnessed countless truck loads of clean fill being dumped over the side of the roadway and was informed by Mr. Reeves that this is stabilization material, intended to hold back further deteriorzation of the nank and hillside.
Franco Pack The bags were r going on a Guilt Trip.
Seriously Franco when are you going to get some Journalistic Integrity Get A Grip.
First of You Are what you hang with I have Digital Pictures of you @ the table @ Friends of the berg Party.
The People who you surround yourself with are all opportunists just like you.
Remember I was born here I have friends in Low Places too Pal.
In the End I will come out on Top & remember this You created a monster that Finishes fights that rite I am a Finisher.
Where's your Tailspin column on Gordon being cleared by the Attorney General and the bullsh#t that lunatic Jack Mahar initiated. According to the AG's Office " There was NOTHING TO INVESTIGATE ".Jack Mahar should reimburse NYS for the cost of the investigation HE initiated as a desperate political candidate.
Now we stablize a bank merely by dumping loose material over the bank....you must be a graduate of South Troy School of Engineering!
Judging your asinine response to stable fill, I would guess that you done graduated from school 12 at the age of 28. For your own edification, fill can be any stable material, approved by an engineer. I did not dezcribe what material was dumped, just the fact that an inital attempt was started.
Look...we all know it didn't need to be closed..that water ran for a week before utilities shut it off.. conspiracy theory...who knows..Tell you what though...this not so new administration better figure out who the benedict arold's are...any job that can be dragged along to make these guy's look bad is gonna happen every day
It is a safe bet Mr. Reeves is doing the best job he can do. There are laws and liabilities that engineers are held to that no one else in the administration must face. If Russ decided to close the road the road needed to be closed.
I myself thought at least one lane should have been kept open but then again unlike Mr. Reeves I'm not personally or professionally responsible for public safety.
So, the city makes a claim that Irene caused the damage - allowing eligibility for millions of dollars in funding for repair of the road. A minor detour was in effect for a couple of months and you are on here bit#%ing about it, why? Wouldn't it be a good thing to save Troy taxpayers money and get the road repaired? I did ride over Campbell's Avenue after it re-opened and I saw where they did some work stabilizing the hill - so what's your problem? It's not like there was a historic theatre marquee that was about to fall down and had to be removed because it could collapse immediately, only to need BLOW TORCHES to remove the "unstable" marquee. That cost taxpayers thousands of dollars in costs involving labor and now the settlement of the lawsuit brought on because of it. At least this mayor is looking to save taxpayers money through funding elsewhere and not costing them money through personal vendettas. Get.Over.It.
Franco, what no blog on how the Attorney Generals office found no basis for the slanderous and politically motivated accusations made by Mahar against Gary Gordon?? NO FAULT FOUND. POLITICAL GAMES.
Thank god for Vito for he designed the repair scheme and it's not even district one what a godsent Vito is he outdid himself yet again can't wait for the popular powers park concert series where u cease to amaze all of Troy we love you vito and so does lou
Dear Lou,
Thank you for opening Campbell Ave back up. I was driving down it today, and noticed that it seems to be more tilted to the right. This may or may not be dangerous, but it is a bit unsettling, as I've used that road for more than 30 years, and don't remember it tilting to the right like that.
We could have a problem here Lou. Please send Willie back up to bless it, as an additional safety precaution.
Regards
Robert,
I give up. You win. I'm not sure what I'm giving up, or what you win. But I do give up and declare you the winner.
So the people that criticized Russ Reeves for ordering the removal of the Cinema Art marquee are now defending his judgement in closing Campbell Ave. Funny how things change when the shoe is on the other foot.
By the way, why did Bill Dunne back off of his promise to keep Christie Street open all the way to Congress Street?
So tell me Lou..what kind of administration is it you're running..you said transparent..i'm thinkining..turned a blind eye administration..you got guy's living out of this city that are not grandfathered...you have guy's that have failed civil service test's .which by the way are official government test's ..but yet ..they still keep their provisional appointment's...c'mon LOu..can we get rid of the trash...that's why we voted for you
Mr. Reeves has proven himself, with the exception of the removal of the Cinema Art marquee, to be well above the fray of Troy politics. He is an honorable public servent and often bases his decisions on sound engineering practices, rather than politics. Bravo!
Hey Franco. Why not just give Cox his own Blog to rant on?
Gary,
Yes, we read the article. Please stop now, Sheriff Mahar kicked your a%%.
I live on Sherman ave and I hated the traffic ,,,but I will say RUSS did a great job, and I cant say i was a fan of RUSS or at least when the last administration was there he was a tough! But I'll give credit were it's due and RUSS has been excellent and deserving of his job , as a citizen I'm glad to have him aboard,
Jim, I watched you on Vandenburgh today. That knot in your stomach must get tighter every day.Real men don't dance with the devil . Till we meet again.
At 7:41 grow some balls, I'm sure Gordon's nort wasting his time reading these blogs!
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