Recently seen:
While Columbus continues to boom with new construction going up everywhere, including at nearby Grandview Yards, this bus stop--an apparent nod to Ohio's pioneer era--is absolutely inexcusable.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Precisely!
I've bitched about the muddy rut that serves as a bus stop near the Spielman Center on Third Avenue just off Olentangy River Road. Apparently, I'm not alone in my critique of this barren and dangerous stop (see previous post: Rider in the Storm at the Bus Stop to Nowhere).
Recently seen:
While Columbus continues to boom with new construction going up everywhere, including at nearby Grandview Yards, this bus stop--an apparent nod to Ohio's pioneer era--is absolutely inexcusable.
Recently seen:
While Columbus continues to boom with new construction going up everywhere, including at nearby Grandview Yards, this bus stop--an apparent nod to Ohio's pioneer era--is absolutely inexcusable.
Those Damned Plastic COTA Bags!
Oh, what's that I see lurking on the ground near the bus stop at East Main and Gilbert streets mingling with the other scraps of trash that don't seem to make it into the conveniently provided garbage can?
Why, my stars, it's a plastic COTA garbage bag like the ones COTA stocks on every bus, and which riders use as seat covers. This one undoubtedly was kicked out the bus by a rider exiting the back door, and now has a new home on an East Main Street sidewalk.
I did the right thing and put it in the trash receptacle. But I am increasingly annoyed with the plastic bag problem, and I've talked to a few drivers who also think they should be banned from the buses. After all, they have to clean up the scores of them left behind by riders who use them to protect their behinds from whatever they believe might be lurking on COTA's seats. And the riders who use them as seat covers are selfish pigs who expect others to clean up their litter, which is what the bags left on seats, then on floors, are.
I am launching a one-man battle against this social and environmental nuisance (see recent post Big Butt Plastic Bag Seat Cover Sweat).
Why, my stars, it's a plastic COTA garbage bag like the ones COTA stocks on every bus, and which riders use as seat covers. This one undoubtedly was kicked out the bus by a rider exiting the back door, and now has a new home on an East Main Street sidewalk.
I did the right thing and put it in the trash receptacle. But I am increasingly annoyed with the plastic bag problem, and I've talked to a few drivers who also think they should be banned from the buses. After all, they have to clean up the scores of them left behind by riders who use them to protect their behinds from whatever they believe might be lurking on COTA's seats. And the riders who use them as seat covers are selfish pigs who expect others to clean up their litter, which is what the bags left on seats, then on floors, are.
I am launching a one-man battle against this social and environmental nuisance (see recent post Big Butt Plastic Bag Seat Cover Sweat).
Our Filthy Bus Stops (an occasional series)
The bus stop at the OSU-area Kroger on North High Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues is also one of the city's filthiest. Frequented by the drunk, the doped, the deranged, and many OSU students, it was built as part of the new Kroger store that opened in 2012.
Its predecessor, while unremarkable, did have an enclosed shelter. It, too, had a colorful clientele; it wasn't uncommon to stumble onto an impromptu Ripple party on occasion (the area still retains a hint of its past as Columbus's Skid Row; someone forgot to tell the street people that the area has been totally gentrified and hipsterized over the past 20 years).But what irked me about it were the numerous nearby magazine racks from which people would pull out newspapers, ad rags, and the like to use as bench covers, then leave them there, where they invariably ended up on the ground. The litter would congeal into a pulpy mess when it rained.
The replacement is a spartan affair with an overhang that doesn't really protect one from the elements.
It provides weary riders with a nasty-looking concrete bench that is usually being commandeered by one of the area's many derelicts. These photos, taken last fall, show the bench and the surrounding sidewalk. I tend to walk around the stains, being as they are of undetermined origin, and NEVER sit on the bench, which is a favorite sunning spot for the lost and the wandering.
I would think that the store and COTA might have a general agreement on upkeep of the stop, but apparently this is not the case. Some of these stains survived our admittedly mild winter. As summer draws near, the stop is once again a thriving social hotspot, and will soon return to the conditions I've documented. Is it too much to ask that a disinfectant scrub-down of the stop occur once in a while? Just asking--not that I'll EVER sit on that bench!
Its predecessor, while unremarkable, did have an enclosed shelter. It, too, had a colorful clientele; it wasn't uncommon to stumble onto an impromptu Ripple party on occasion (the area still retains a hint of its past as Columbus's Skid Row; someone forgot to tell the street people that the area has been totally gentrified and hipsterized over the past 20 years).But what irked me about it were the numerous nearby magazine racks from which people would pull out newspapers, ad rags, and the like to use as bench covers, then leave them there, where they invariably ended up on the ground. The litter would congeal into a pulpy mess when it rained.
The replacement is a spartan affair with an overhang that doesn't really protect one from the elements.
It provides weary riders with a nasty-looking concrete bench that is usually being commandeered by one of the area's many derelicts. These photos, taken last fall, show the bench and the surrounding sidewalk. I tend to walk around the stains, being as they are of undetermined origin, and NEVER sit on the bench, which is a favorite sunning spot for the lost and the wandering.
I would think that the store and COTA might have a general agreement on upkeep of the stop, but apparently this is not the case. Some of these stains survived our admittedly mild winter. As summer draws near, the stop is once again a thriving social hotspot, and will soon return to the conditions I've documented. Is it too much to ask that a disinfectant scrub-down of the stop occur once in a while? Just asking--not that I'll EVER sit on that bench!
The Work of a Pissed-Off COTA Rider?
Whilst taking a leisurely stroll recently down East Main Street toward downtown, I noticed a street sign lying in the yard of a private home.
As I got closer, the sign appeared somewhat familiar to me.
On closer inspection: Why, of course! It's a bus stop sign that should have been standing tall at the corner of Monroe and East Main streets. Apparently, a disgruntled COTA rider pulled it out of the ground and flung it over the fence. The sign has since been returned to it rightful place near the curb.
As I got closer, the sign appeared somewhat familiar to me.
On closer inspection: Why, of course! It's a bus stop sign that should have been standing tall at the corner of Monroe and East Main streets. Apparently, a disgruntled COTA rider pulled it out of the ground and flung it over the fence. The sign has since been returned to it rightful place near the curb.
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