40° and Sunny
Pavement patching under way
We kept hearing from the Mayor the asphalt plant was going to open sometime in April but didn’t anticipate it would be soon. Niagara Falls workers were out Tuesday on Pine Avenue. With hot asphalt.
Speaking of roads
I hope they get to Main Street in the bridge district quickly. It is brutal. The tail light bounced off my bike last week. I retraced my steps riding on the wrong side of the road and could not find it.
About that weather
My fantasy of going down to one car is dead, killed by the weather. It was a punishing day last week riding to the Allstate office on Niagara Falls Boulevard. It was a 7-mile ride on a 40-degree day with 45 mph wind that made me say “no mas” Roberto Duran style. We purchased a new 2025 Camry hybrid.
Ferry and Walnut revisited
I spoke to a citizen who lives on Ferry Avenue recently. She said the redesign of the road has had a negative impact on her relationship with neighbors.
Both one-way streets were reduced to one lane from two, with bike lanes and curb bump outs. The reconstruction caused panic among residents.
Now to the negative impact: “It used to be once every couple weeks, there would be an accident and we would stand on the sidewalk and chat. There wasn’t an accident all last summer. Now we don’t talk to our neighbors any more.”
If that’s what it means to listen to traffic engineers on matters of bike lanes and accidents, perhaps we need more traffic circles.
UB40
It was 1989. We bought our first house, an up-down double in Clarence with an unfinished attic room in the up apartment. Beth was going to the store and asked if I wanted anything.
“A CD, UB40, but anything that does not have ‘Red Wine’ on it.”
She found one. I used it as a work jam for months. June or July of 1990, Beth was pregnant. We bought tickets to see the band at the Tralf. Beth was sick with pregnancy and needed to eat.
We saw our friends Dave and Melinda there. It was a great show. UB40 is now coming to Artpark. We will be buying tickets. I don’t even mind “Red Red Wine” anymore. https://www.iloveny.com/thebeat/post/ub40-to-play-the-artpark-amphitheater-on-friday-august-29-2025/
