To the editor:
While I’m delighted that Presque Isle is getting its downtown streets resurfaced, I’m quite frankly alarmed at what is passing for traffic management while this important work is being done. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this project I’ve encountered has been the use of massive, bright lights at intersections at night.Recently, as I drove down Academy Street to Main Street, I was quite literally blinded by the light — two lights, in fact — which were aimed straight at the windshields of vehicles as they descended the hill to the intersection. These made it extraordinarily difficult to see where other vehicles were, or where they were moving.
During daylight hours, other problems emerge. Road workers standing in the middle of a street brandishing “slow” signs to traffic in one direction are apparently oblivious to the fact that the back side of their signs are “stop” signs, leaving drivers going in the opposite direction distracted and confused. The workers directing traffic at major intersections when the traffic lights are off have a world-weary, casual and indifferent demeanor that in turn makes drivers tentative and uncertain.
By way of contrast, I have always found that police officers routing traffic at intersections to be forceful, careful and confident, making drivers alert and assured.
So please, let’s get some of our fine public safety professionals downtown to direct traffic at major intersections and supervise the other traffic management being done, so that we can all have our repaved roads and safe travels too.
Brent Andersen
Presque Isle
