WPCNR TRAFFIC RAPPER. By John F. Bailey. April 19, 2005: White Plains got a taste of what it will be like when Martine Avenue is partially obstructed for new water main installation within two weeks, yesterday when HRH Construction took most of the day to remove the construction crane from the Trump Tower worksite. The closure was not due to water main construction beginning, as WPCNR had assumed since there was no notice of closure on the City website and Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti had said the street would be partially closed beginning in April.

I have a simple suggestion. How about widely publicizing major road closures and lane restrictions on the city website, daily meetings, and on telephone hotlines either at the Department of Public Safety, the Traffic Department, or the Mayor's Office. The Department of Recreation and Parks does this with rainouts for the White Plains Little League, which actually communicates better than the city, and no one pays them. Perhaps the Little League could take over communications from the Mayor's Office since they are too busy not communicating things like the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee process for example.

Meetings Could Be Disclosed, Too!

Speaking of meetings, not every concerned citizen has the time to drive by City Hall and read the City Hall Bulletin Board which lists the regular meetings. Regular meetings are posted on the city website--but deep in the site-- not on the front page where they should be. I wonder why?

 Speaking of the traffic situation yesterday, David Maloney, a spokesperson for the Mayor's Office informed WPCNR at midday that HRH Construction had notified the residents of Martine Avenue of the street closure between 6 AM and 7 PM. Maloney said the water main work on Martine Avenue might begin as early as next Monday or within three weeks and would not last 3 months, as Commissioner Nicoletti had indicated at a recent work session.

A WPCNR reader also reported there is another obscure entrance to the City Center Garage just off North Broadway Southbound at midblock between Main Street and Martine Avenue, but it is a sharp right and more an alley than an entrance. The city appears to discourage that since a large orange sign directs southbound North Broadway traffic to Post Road.

Of course, to maximize the sales tax in the crucial fourth quarter, WPCNR would not be surprised if the water main construction was delayed until July 1, so as not to interfere with spring retail sales at the City Center "financial heartbeat" of the city. We know that the Department of Public Works always runs into delays on their projects. (The Bryant Avenue- Shapham Place garage is now four months late. If the DPW takes more than three months to do the water main on Martine, I think it just might, just might hurt City Center sales traffic.)

Hello? Is anybody thinking or working in the Mayor's Office? Hotlines please!

Residents could plan around traffic and street issues and closures better if the city would put up on the front page of their website or on the Department of Public Safety website an alert box, or by setting up a recorded announcement of closures and traffic situations on a repeating telephone message at the beginning of each week.

Spending thousands in technology for the city website and for communications and media and "policy" personnel is a waste of taxpayers money if the city does not update the website daily and use "hotline" technology to keep citizens informed.

To this end, WPCNR suggests the city install a "looping" Traffic Hotline, a "looping" City Meetings Hotline, and also post Traffic closures in a front page box on the city website, and daily meetings of City Hall departments and work sessions in a front page box on the website.

The Traffic Department could prepare the Traffic Hotline...with a simple answering machine setup. Or, the Department of Public Safety could handle it. The meetings, again, one of the Mayor's Office's phalanx of "media" and "communications" and "policy specialists" could prepare a meetings hotline daily. Or, how about a "Welcome Mat" box on the site, welcoming whatever movers and shakers are walking into city hall that day to make decisions affecting the city.

Just a friendly suggestion, because we know the city wants the citizens to participate and know what is going on, don't we?

Those are simple fixes from a reporter that thinks, for what right now is a very user-unfriendly city and are no-brainers. Unless, of course, the city wants to give the impression it is communicating, but actually make the communication inaccessible such as not making Commissioners of city departments  available in a timely manner, for simple calls from the media.  Perish the thought! What could I be thinking of? In White Plains, no way!