To the editor:
Every pothole is costly.
Suspension cables snap. Our emotional balance teeters on the edge of loss of composure. Driving becomes a misadventure with the straight and narrow giving way to swerves, distractedness and downright dangerous efforts to avoid what is becoming unavoidable.
My street, which hosts oncoming school buses, ambulatory children with their heavy backpacks, parents in cars with the best of intentions and potentially, the worst of outcomes when it comes to safety for all, somehow make their way to the East Gloucester school.
Patching potholes is a stopgap measure. The materials used disintegrate as quickly as our patience as we take to the road following a truck hauling milk to the children that undoes the repairs.
What to do? As with our present job-starved economy, the solution has to involve the outlay of money or, just maybe, ingenuity. Since our city is cash-strapped and since any mention of taxes means defeat at the polls, what would it take to pave this and numerous other streets?
I asked people living around here some months ago whether they'd be willing to help the Department of Public Works do some emergency work to head off further disintegration of roads and sidewalks. Dropping the blame game, engaging in physical labor akin to an aerobics class and beyond, ability to follow directions, single-minded attention to the fate of our city and its appeal to its citizens and tourists, would all play a part. When I called the Public Works the next morning, I was told that such an offer carried the threat of litigation from possible injury to the volunteers and it wasn't possible.
Suppose an exception was made to this rule? This could be a community project demonstrating to the children that we're here for them and for others and that we can overcome feelings of helplessness and lack of commitment.
CYNTHIA FISK
Chapel Street, Gloucester
