Ogden's median surprise
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hen it comes to governmental operations, classify this one under "the dog ate my homework."
Ogden recently installed a concrete median in the center of Washington Boulevard. It spans the Ogden River, which runs underneath Washington: It is intended to block the westbound traffic exiting Park Boulevard from going southbound onto Washington.
But, amazingly, both the city and Utah Department of Transportation neglected to hold the required public meeting during the planning process, or to inform any nearby, affected business this was going to happen until construction had begun. That's an awfully big "oops!" given that it affects access to the businesses located adjacent to the median.
When we went to have a look at the median on Wednesday, southbound traffic on Washington looking to turn east onto Park Boulevard were making one of two choices: Driving left of the median into the center turning lane, or driving past the median and flipping U-turns to return to Park.
The median was clearly designed to accommodate southbound traffic turning left off Washington onto Park, but it's incomplete: There's insufficient road striping or signage to indicate a left-hand turning lane, or even a second strip of cement curbing on the east side of the turning lane incorporated in some of these sorts of median designs. Until these modifications are made -- especially the striping and signage -- there will be continued confusion by southbound drivers about how best to access Park Boulevard; this could cause accidents. (Besides that, the median is ugly -- its utilitarian appearance conflicts sharply with the vastly more appealing medians farther south on Washington Boulevard.)
Now, having said that, the businesses along Washington -- including the Prairie Schooner restaurant, located just off Washington along Park -- deserve a better answer from Ogden and UDOT than the one they've been given so far by the city's chief administrative officer, John Patterson: "There was a gentleman in our office who was responsible for notifying the people," Patterson told Standard-Examiner reporter Marshall Thompson. "But he left and delegated it to someone else, and it didn't happen." As for a public hearing, Patterson said, the city didn't realize that was a requirement.
So, not only did Ogden fail to adhere to the particulars of its responsibility, but so did UDOT; the state owns Washington Boulevard and is responsible not only for signing off on the city's changes, but for making sure the required public hearing is held, and that businesses are notified. It isn't enough for UDOT to accept Ogden's promise to do so -- the state agency should have followed up to make sure it was happening.
Patterson says not much can be done at this point, since the "median is in and it's not going to be coming out."
Well. On top of governmental ineptitude, there's a stark lack of empathy, as well.
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