jcj

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 9:36 a.m.

The reason for the big mess was the time of day. West Huron is one of the busiest routes at the end of the work day. Once that started backing up motorist would have started using side streets. Causing intersections everywhere to be overloaded. If an officer had been at some of the major intersections to keep the major trunk line moving the most the majority of the vehicles could have exited the city the quickest. Any time you make a major intersection a 4 way stop you are going to have a major backup. Imagine if there was no accident and you made Jackson Stadium a 4 way stop at 5pm for 1 hr. Now suppose you put an officer there giving the westbound traffic preference. How much faster would things clear up? It is not that complicated!

Linda Diane Feldt

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 9:22 a.m.

With more than twenty major intersections affected, there is no way the police could be present to direct traffic at each one. At most of them, the presence of a police car would have created even more interference. Where the police car was present, it certainly had its own positive affect on traffic - at least where I observed it. And won't police cars and police be strategically placed where they won't also be trapped by gridlock? Raising questions about how this bizarre and poorly timed accident was handled seems more than reasonable. But I would keep the larger perspective in mind. I saw traffic jams with traffic barely moving at 7th and Liberty, 3rd and Liberty, 3rd and Washington, 3rd and Huron, First and Huron, Ashley and Huron, First and Ann, Main and Ann, Main and Huron, Fourth and Huron, Fifth and Huron, Main and Washington, Main and Liberty, Washington and Ashley, Washington and First, Liberty and Ashley, Liberty and First. That's just what I directly observed. There was more trouble further East, and also North along Miller and West on Seventh, I also imagine Stadium Blvd. was significantly affected. I just don't think there is much you can do to unravel all of that, except time. People were being mostly patient and careful. Incredibly frustrating, but it was an accident. A rare and unfortunate event. Hope the feedback is used to do better next time, but I certainly have a far greater appreciation of how valuable and essential Huron St. is - especially during rush hour.

TruthMan

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 9:18 a.m.

We still don't know what towing company was responsible for the mess, or the name of the driver who didn't secure the vehicle. that's just poor reporting.

jcj

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 8:38 a.m.

@EDM450 Your argument is at best a lame attempt at making excuses! I must have missed all the post that said anything about an officer driving by other than one motorcycle officer! There were numerous post about officers observing! Please show me where in the manual it says that officers should not direct traffic. Listen closely! Why do you suppose that we don't just have 4 way stops at all intersections? Because some streets have more volume than others that is why the lights are timed to get the most vehicles through an intersection efficiently. That is why after football games at some intersections there are officers directing traffic to get the most vehicles moved. Now why would they do that when "Directing traffic is only need when YOU the public can not handle the simple right of way procedure." Following your reasoning.(And that is Really using the term loosely)to use your own words. There would be no need for the officers to be sitting observing because everyone should be following the "simple right of way procedure." And if one car did not what is he gonna do get out and direct one car then get back in the car and observe?

just a voice

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.

ran into the mess of main and depot yesterday about 5:40, there was no power to the light or the summet light. Traffic was really bad. no cop in sight

EDM450

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 7:55 a.m.

To those who are complaining about officers driving by not directing traffic, it's most likely because they are heading to a call. They don't always have the lights and sirens on when they go to a call. If an officer is sitting in a car at a corner and the traffic is doing the proper right of way stopping procedure, there is no need to direct traffic. Directing traffic is only need when YOU the public can not handle the simple right of way procedure. And just one more thing. While those of you are complaining "THINK" (And that is Really using the term loosely) you know all about how the AAPD are lazy and don't care consider that the man who saw the K-9 Officer at 6:30pm looking around not directing traffic was more than likely on his 11th hour 30th minute of his 12 hour shift. You see AAPD being so under staffed now has to go to a 12 hour shift which they just started a little over a week ago. If you think they got to choose that, think again. Did you choose how many hours you get to work? Now I don't care who you are. Anyone who goes from working an 8 hour day to 12 is not going to feel too full of energy at 11 hours and 30 minutes. I just love how the police are always the first to get the blame on everything that happens in your lives, but I'll be damned if something bad happens your not praying for dear life they show up in 2 seconds. Your probably the same kind of people who think the world owes you something because you lost power for an hour or two so you should the next year free. Get a life!

Brad

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 7:40 a.m.

There's only one course of action - the city council must immediately issue a resolution condemning flying cars!

AngusA2

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 7:27 a.m.

I think there needs to be an investigation into the laws of physics that were broken here as well. Flying cars? Only in Ann Arbor!

Art Vandelay

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 6:40 a.m.

@ AAJoker. "the only time Police seem to be willing to direct traffic is when they are getting overtime on a football home game day". On Saturday after the game I drove west on Stadium through the stop sign mess at 7th and there were two police cars each with a policeman sitting inside watching the traffic back up. I was also in Tuesday's mess downtown but didn't see any police directing traffic.

A2 Rez

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 5:31 a.m.

I wonder if there would have been more directing of traffic if this incident was on campus rather than down the street from the homeless shelter?

AAJoker

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 5:09 a.m.

No one is blaming the police for the outage, we are simply disappointed that the only time Police seem to be willing to direct traffic is when they are getting overtime on a football home game day. Maybe the A2 Police need to call in help from other districts whenever something requiring work actually happens? Please note, I'm a strong believer in having an adequate Police force, unfortunately as noted many times in these comments the A2 Police force appears to have checked out. Further evidence can be seen in the lack of ticketing for red light running, speeding and loud exhausts around town.

KathrynHahn

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 11:29 p.m.

A few yrs. ago the lights were out at Washtenaw/Hewitt and there was a police officer (obviously NOT A2 jurisdiction) directing traffic. Now I'm sure he could have adopted the "I'm trained to fight crime, not direct traffic" attitude, but he didn't. He had a beat to his whistle and step, impeccable timing with the traffic, and and actually looked like he was making fun of a dull job. He was such an attention getter that people paid attention to his directions, while he got many smiles and waves at the same time. I have never enjoyed being at a non working traffic light so much. Take a few clues AAPD!

bunnyabbot

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 10:26 p.m.

@Linda, I drove down Chapin to Miller, what didn't help that intersection was there is construction there. So cars were blocking the intersection, people were turning onto Chapin, which some people I was behind didn't realize was a two way street. Then if you got up to the corner and wanted to turn left and the car heading downtown was blocking part of the way you had to try to drive around the construction cones at a funny angle which I am sure I cleared, but I saw several cones were knocked down, the car in front of me took the turn to fast and almost ended up in the nice ditch on the right hand side. Really, I have been in a lot worse traffic, give Romans four lanes of traffic and they'll squeeze in 7 cars, well thats true of a lot of places in the world, but A2 is not one of them. I am really surprised to not know of any secondary accidents created by the lack of police directing traffic.

Peter Baker

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 10:15 p.m.

Who cares about temporary traffic clogging? I'm just the utility pole stopped it and it didn't hop up on the sidewalk and kill somebody.

bunnyabbot

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 10:12 p.m.

I was also stuck in the mess of traffic. After getting to my car I drove passed the fire station, then took Huron down to the accident scene and turned north onto Chapin to get onto Miller to get out of downtown, every intersection was a mess, pedestrians were crossing willy nilly, so if you could move up you couldn't b/c someone walked into the street with a phone to their ear. Then you had a truck blocking one lane which made buses have to go around them, two buses in a row really messed up my little chunk of cars trying to move. Really, the extra 25 mins didn't kill me. Yes, I would have liked to actually see some cops directing traffic, the presence of one with a whistle would have at least given the overall feeling of order. As for the two cops blocking the road down by Chapin Street, so nice the cops were outside of them and standing over watching the fire dept, who I am sure could do their job without an audiance. I know how cute firemen look in their uniforms but really, buy a calender, look at pics online, I am sure there has to be a website dedicated to them. I usually am a supporter of the police, I understand that in this town, yes, they are stretched thin. I don't blame them for an accident that someone else caused, what I do find upsetting and disturbing is one little traffic pole stretches the already thinned out police department thinner to the point of the sloppy mess I witnessed today. I work downtown, there is more shoplifting, more panhandling and I haven't seen a cop using his legs in months. I am pissed there are fewer cops.

Marvin Face

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 10:10 p.m.

That's a Porsche Cayenne in the photo. This could get very expensive for the towing company responsible.

Fat Bill

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 10:06 p.m.

@Stefanie. That pole served only one house, had a cable tv line as well. As it happens, the connections remained intact, the house still had power. The other outage is several circuits away.

breadman

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 9:27 p.m.

I thought only Yugo's could fly? That was a smart car!!!

jcj

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 9:16 p.m.

I did not see anything and was not inconvenienced in any way. I am usually a staunch defender of the police. But if the reports here are true, there is no reason to have officers just observing a traffic jam. If they are not going to direct traffic then they might as well get themselves out of the way! There are always plenty of rubber necks without the police filling that roll.

A2 Rez

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 8:35 p.m.

I was in the AATA #9 bus about 6:30 on the corner of Huron and Seventh. There was an Ann Arbor police officer at the corner in a K-9 vehicle who was doing nothing but leaning against his vehicle while traffic was backed up. I'm not blaming the Police Department for the wind, for the power outage, for the tow truck or anything else. But I do strongly feel that he could have helped direct traffic instead of leaning on his car looking down towards where the accident had happened. What was his purpose?

Fat Bill

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 8:26 p.m.

Note also, just for the record, that the towed vehicle's nose swung into the pole, no flying occurred. I was there.

Fat Bill

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 8:24 p.m.

Strange how a little pole that only services 1 building would cause a big outage. Perhaps the high winds in the area that were blowing trees down had something to do with the other intersections, as the lights were still on in the area of the incident.

Linda Diane Feldt

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 8:23 p.m.

I am curious why police didn't redirect traffic starting at First Street, especially since there was a very large truck that stopped in the left lane going west on Huron between Third and First, creating more problems. That would have kept a lot of people from having to create bottlenecks at Third and Washington and Third and Liberty (I didn't go over to see Chapin and Miller). I was on foot, walked about 2 miles of backed up streets, so had a wide vantage point over much of the whole mess. There didn't seem to be much that could be done, but I did question why there wasn't more aggressive redirection of traffic. But that's only one vantage point. It also sounds like it affected so much area police were spread thin. They were at the points where there was the most danger, not the points where it would be most convenient for motorists. That's the right choice of priorities, if that was the logic behind the response. With communication, there is less frustration. It would help to learn the thought process behind the assignments and actions. Certainly the motorists didn't have much perspective, and those on bike and on foot had just a bit more. It's easy to second guess.

Nephilim

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 8:06 p.m.

Wow thats impressive how all of a sudden the fault is at the hands of the Ann Arbor Police as to why your commute got extended by 30 minutes. No mention or whining at the fact that the whole fault lies in the hands of someone else. It is best to always blame the police in any situation i have found.

Linda Diane Feldt

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 7:56 p.m.

There was a Triangle tow truck on the scene. I don't know if it was to remove the car, or if it was the tow truck that lost the car. The guy was busy so I didn't ask. I just reviewed the short movie I took. The police report will tell, or maybe someone who was there before I was?

David Briegel

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 7:18 p.m.

I want a car that can FLY!

Mikey2u

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 7:17 p.m.

I've read about flying cars but I've never seen one.

huh7891

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 7:15 p.m.

Darn those Ann Arbor Police it's their fault it's windy today too...

Bones

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 7:15 p.m.

What twoing company was at fault? And what was the fine for this?

AAJoker

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 6:52 p.m.

I was next to a motorcycle cop as he casually made his way on north main towards town, he went through two intersections with no lights (and no one directing traffic) without even looking interested; this is all while Main is backed from the highway until past Miller! Now I understand why we can afford to get rid of cops so easily around here, they don't appear to even engage with the public!

kel

Tue, Sep 7, 2010 : 5:53 p.m.

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting through all the intersections that were affected by this accident. Especially the 2 where there were police in their cars just watching the traffic rather than getting out of their cars and directing. C'mon An Arbor, its a small town with ALOT of projects. At least get 1 or 2 of your finest on those corners so we can make a 15 minute trip not turn into 45 minute one. DOnt get me started on the 5th Avenue situation!