Road closed? Challenge accepted!

[bhskittykatt]

Both of these are from Hubs. The past few nights he's been observing & reporting at a local middle school. For two nights in a row, he observed two cars attempt to drive down a closed road.

Now, first let me explain a little about this road. This section of road runs straight through the middle of campus. It's closed during school hours, so kids don't get run over and so buses can get in and out and park there and whatnot. Lately, this road has been closed outside of school hours, too, as there's significant construction equipment there (the school actually burned down about a year and a half ago...they're scrambling to finish up the last of the rebuild and remodel to open in time for the school year...technically, Hubs is contracted through the construction company and is there more to guard the equipment than the school, though he still patrols the whole campus).

So on either end of this block, two large "Road Closed" signs block the lanes to deter anyone from driving down there. It deters people...but doesn't stop them completely.

The first night, Hubs witnessed a car just squeeze in between the two signs. It got down to the other end, realized it couldn't make it, and turned around and squeezed back out the way it went in.

The second night, one of the Road Closed signs was missing on one side. Someone forgot to put it back, or it was stolen, or whatever. And since the one remaining was on the left side (read: side of the road you're not supposed to drive on), I can kind of see the confusion since the right lane was clear.

Anyways, the second night, this car bypasses the one Road Closed sign and makes it down to the other end that's blocked by two signs. Realizing he can't make it, he turns around and leaves the way he came. Nah, I'm just kidding. Realizing his way is blocked, the car proceeded to squeeze between the two signs and actually scraped his car against them! Hope it was worth your paint job, buddy!

Bonus: That's the wrong direction!

Yesterday morning, I had to go jump Hubs' car. I was following him home to make sure his car didn't die on him again. (His car had juice, but wasn't turning over. Somehow jumping it made it run, though. Meaning some component is going bad, but we're not sure exactly which one.) Anyways, we're driving down a one-way street, when we get to a stop sign and prepare to turn.

Across from us, another car approaches and stops at the intersection. I wasn't too familiar with the neighborhood, but something didn't seem right. The car turned the other way. That's when I realized the stop-sign said it was only a three-way stop because we were on a one way street. The other car was on the same one way street, but going the wrong way! Guess it's a good thing we were turning off before that block.

[mikoyan29]

A few years ago, the were doing some pretty extensive work on the street by work. Right in front of work, there was about a three foot drop to the pavement. One night, some dumbass ignored the road closed signs and bottomed out his truck. I am not sure how he got it out but he did sometime later.

[Teskeria]

Check the alternator if it has one. When they go the car cant recharge the battery while driving. You now have most of my automotive knowledge other than where to put gas, oil, transmission fluid and water, and how to change a tire (my mom insisted we know this before we could get a liscense.) Oh and that if the flywheel is going the car makes a weird noise trying to start.

[bhskittykatt]

Check the alternator if it has one. When they go the car cant recharge the battery while driving. You now have most of my automotive knowledge other than where to put gas, oil, transmission fluid and water, and how to change a tire (my mom insisted we know this before we could get a liscense.) Oh and that if the flywheel is going the car makes a weird noise trying to start.

Well, we discovered the ignition coil making pretty sparkles, so we're replacing that. Hubs took the battery in yesterday to get it tested. It barely had a charge, but it was otherwise fine, so yeah, we're guessing it's the alternator. (A cheap fix for his car, but he then proceeded to mash my car as he was leaving the auto parts store. My poor baby is driveable but has a big ouchie on her now.)

[Pagan]

Well, we discovered the ignition coil making pretty sparkles, so we're replacing that. Hubs took the battery in yesterday to get it tested. It barely had a charge, but it was otherwise fine, so yeah, we're guessing it's the alternator. (A cheap fix for his car, but he then proceeded to mash my car as he was leaving the auto parts store. My poor baby is driveable but has a big ouchie on her now.)

My car was having an issue not starting every now and then. But it was the solenoid on the starter going bad. And I was the one that diagnosed it, which is a major achievement for me! It's also why I now have an emergency charger in the trunk.

[FuzzyKitten99]

My ex-hubby has worked in road construction for the last 13 years. He has so many stories.

About 7 years ago, there was one large project down in the southern suburbs where one of the main roads was being completely shut down for work, so traffic was diverted to certain side roads that could handle the extra traffic. Other side roads would only shut one end down with a few barricades so that traffic avoids going through there.

That original set-up ended up with people going down the roads that were barricaded at one end, and they would get out of their cars, move the barricades, and go through.

In this state, moving any road construction equipment without authorization is $1000 fine per piece moved, per person. That is if they're caught. Well the police in this area aren't many in number and they have bigger fish to fry than babysitting the side-roads. So my ex then tried to bolt all the large barricades together, and placed 3-4 sandbags, weighing 50lbs each, on each post foot. This stopped people from moving them, but then they started just driving up onto the boulevard of the properties there on the corner, and driving around the barricades!

The residents were obviously irritated. Rather than the police babysitting, they advised the residents to put large objects there. The one guy puts his large boat on the corner. The other guy didn't have a boat or anything to put there. So what does he do?

Built his own spikestrip out of extra roof shingles and 4" deck nails & screws, and anchored them with yard spikes all along his boulevard. My ex said the police said he was welcome to put anything he wanted on his yard, as long as it was a certain distance from the road itself.

[Captain Trips]

I have to ask on your usage of "boulevard." Here, where I live, that word refers to a major roadway, two or three lanes each way. Obviously you aren't using it that way.

It sounds like people are driving over your corner properties' lawns, gardens, or what-not that's between the house and the street. Have I got that close?

[FuzzyKitten99]

I have to ask on your usage of "boulevard." Here, where I live, that word refers to a major roadway, two or three lanes each way. Obviously you aren't using it that way.

It sounds like people are driving over your corner properties' lawns, gardens, or what-not that's between the house and the street. Have I got that close?

You have it understood exactly. We use it both ways, about 50/50. The term can be used to describe the length of yard that is more of an easement for the city or county (or the state) between the road and your actual house structure OR for a major roadway as well, mostly just in name itself though. Such as there is one in my area named 'Coon Rapids Boulevard", which is about 4 miles long, and now more of a side-road, only 2 lanes wide each direction. It used to be a major roadway until the mid-70's completion of Highway 10.

[EricKei]

I really have to wonder how these geniuses would react to the presence of a Block Party...o_O I'm not sure if they're allowed everywhere, but they are around her as long as you get a permit a few months in advance -- Basically it's just what it sounds like, a humungous neighborhood party where the cops block off the street with barricades and their own patrol cars as physical barriers. By default, it's just kinda assumed that anyone who lives in the blocked-off area is invited (in addition to outside guests), and usually about a third of the houses in the area will have food/drinks out that everyone shares. Pretty cool, I just haven't been to one in ages.

[MadMike]

Basically it's just what it sounds like, a humungous neighborhood party where the cops block off the street with barricades and their own patrol cars as physical barriers.

They have a few of those in Harrisburg every year. They block off part of Front Street and set up tents, booths, and other stuff. This year, I noticed they parked two dump trucks behind the barricades. I guess they weren't taking any chances this year.