Can The “Jackassery” in Downtown Grand Rapids Stop?
Can the "Jackassery" stop? That was the question posed on Grand Rapids Reddit.
For the two past months, Ottawa NW in downtown Grand Rapids has been under construction. Crews have been replacing manhole covers, resurfacing the road, and making other improvements. The road has been littered with orange cones. It's been a maze driving down the road.
Casey Daniels, Townsquare Media
J_Wold8 is upset. Not with the cones. Not the construction. But with scooter riders. J_Wold8 posted,
"There was probably a group of 8-10 people or so riding down ottawa street kicking over construction cones/tape and breaking glass in the middle of the road. I probably spent the last 20-25 minutes walking down the street placing the construction cones back in their original spots, as well as clean up broken bottles."
Casey Daniels, Townsquare Media
astronaut-jim offered a solution,
"Simple solution, I'd go to the city and propose they require the scooter companies to share location data and rider info with the police and start enforcing bans for any sort of violation of the rules, and start making these losers criminals. These companies absolutely know who these losers are, as well as the ones who don't leave em in designated spots."
Casey Daniels, Townsquare Media
sporadickdeath disagrees,
"The simple solution is to be as more authoritarian? I hate these things but good God. Just get rid of them. Buy a damn bike. Or your own scooter."
Casey Daniels, Townsquare Media
shapterjim replied,
"Obviously those things are bad, no dispute there. But what do the scooters have to do with it? A group of people could have easily done that on foot or on their own bikes, no?
Sounds like a problem with that group of people, not the scooters."
Casey Daniels, Townsquare Media
Ottawa is being rotomilled, resurfaced, and enhanced with new streetscaping, bike parking, landscaping, and streetlights. The project will also upgrade sidewalks and ramps to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some curb locations also will be altered to widen the sidewalk and shorten pedestrian crossings.
Casey Daniels, Townsquare Media
The $2.83 million project on the road was supposed to be completed before ArtPrize began. The streetscaping and landscaping work will be completed by next spring.