Like many of our stories this one started after contact from a reader apparently mad enough about a malfunctioning local traffic light that he threatened to assault it with one of the least favored guitars in his collection.
We counseled against that, having a thing for guitars, but found that our musically-inclined-but-frustrated reader was not alone – with several people knowing exactly which light he was referencing and voicing similar inclinations. Just not with guitars.
We started wondering what else was out there that was making like difficult for lots of people on a fairly regular basis. A few obvious answers came to mind, including one that started with Sink and ended with Hole in Moraga – a natural calamity with rippling implications and a stratospheric price tag, to boot.
What about you? Is there a malfunctioning piece of hardware or infrastructure impacting your life and the lives of others on a regular basis – with no sign of a fix in sight?
That blipping light we talked about happened to be in Orinda and we think you all know where the sinkhole is by now, but if you’ll submit a description of your favorite Malfunction with its location and, if you wish, a picture – we’ll all take a look a see if there isn’t a fix to be found.
That graphic sums things up nicely.
It looks like the old Shell lot on Moraga Way has been scraped clean. Well, let’s hope it’s clean. Any news on plans for that old eyesore?
Bart
The intersection of Deer Hill and Oak Hill in Lafayette during commute times. Lunatic drivers and pedestrians who give no thought to their safety or the appropriateness of their behavior make the intersection maddening. That intersection needs a traffic light.
Nice to see that rheem bolevard is getting some attention between MOraga and Saint Mary’s but it will be off the market for a while. I have noticed a high number of near missus on Rheem both at that three way stop on glorietta and whre it meets Moraga road. I think a lot of it is because people don’t know what YIELD means but there you go. Thhose two have given me headaches int he past… and Rheem at Saint Mary’s is another.
Bsy Area traffic!..
What has happened in the last 2 years where you can barely move around the Bay Area anymore for most of the day. Seems the morning commute ‘hour’ runs 5 hours and the evening commute now seems to start at 2;30 and lasts thru 7pm.
The only time you you can get around easily anymore is between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Where is this going to end?…. I can’t imagine this getting worse then it is, but it looks like it will.
The light at Treat and Candalero.
I heard that the traffic is due to 60,000 new techies who have moved to the Bay Area in the last 3 or 4 years. Their high-income, for these mainly 20’something year olds, is also why there’s a housing crunch: too many , with too much money, chasing too few places to live.
Good question. I would have to say BART is my number 1, with Moraga’s big dig number 2.
BART works about 70 percent of the time, which would be good until you consider how much money goes into keeping it running. I realize a lot of its problems come from outside influences like people throwing themselves in front of its trains or generally ruining things for thousands of other riders by behaving like boobs.
The sinkhole was an Act of Nature but has essentially brought the town of Moraga down with it it seems.
Traffic is bad but we knew it would be and we knew it would get worse and that it is going to get even worse than it is now if that is possible.
Life’s been good to me so far…
How about the Moraga Town Council recently voting to reduce the lanes on Moraga Road. This was done despite the town’s people overwhelmingly supporting options to leave the road as is or only make changes WITHOUT removing traffic lanes. The 3 town council members that voted against their constituents wishes must not understand their duties as elected officials. Unfortunately, most of Moraga is unaware of this decision and will find out once it’s too late. To date, the town has spent $40,000+ on a consultant to sketch plans and survey the town’s people. We should have saved the $40k because the survey results were ignored. Oh, the $40k, it came from the sales tax increase we voted on to repair our roads.
Crow Canyon road is a hot mess.
I have to ask if maybe we wouldn’t be better off just removing the malfunctioning hardware and let people claw through that area on their own. At this rate it seems like the thing to do if they are going to break all the time.
The sense of entitlement large portions of the community seem to have, especially when considering the posted speed limits. It boggles the mind how people drive, with complete disregard for pedestrians, bikers, motorists and neighborhoods filled with families and pets.
I wish people would slow down behind the wheel, and in life.
Sinkhole. Still broken and no one will pay to fix it. Yay.