Letter to the editor: Reader gives credit where credit is due

3
1256
The white left-turn-only arrow and the yellow hash marks separating the lanes of Iowa Highway 144 on the south side of Willis Avenue laregly wore away since the intersection was rebuilt in March 2016.

To the editor:

This past Monday I went to the Perry City Council to give them information that I received from the Iowa Department of Transportation regarding the poor lane markings on Iowa Highway 144 at the intersection of First Avenue and Willis Avenue.

The left-turn-only lane has been ignored by drivers for quite awhile since the DOT has not repainted the lane markings for nearly two years. I complained to the DOT about it late last summer, and they did nothing.

ThePerryNews.com published a story Tuesday about my presentation to the city council, and on Wednesday I got a phone call from WOI-TV channel 5, asking me if I would be available for an interview on the matter.

It became apparent to me that the only way they knew of my presentation was from reading it on ThePerryNews.com website.

I agreed to do the interview.

It was their lead story on their 5 p.m. news, but they indicated that I reached out to them for help on the matter. I did not reach out to them. They reached out to me.

As of this writing, ThePerryNews.com was the only local media to even cover this story.

Channel 5 said in their story that they contacted the DOT and were informed the DOT was planning to repaint the lane markings on Monday of next week. Let’s hope it really happens.

John P. Perdue
Perry

3 COMMENTS

  1. John, I understand that the news sometimes turns the story around, seen more often than needed. Hopefully, when they said they contacted someone at the DOT, it is true. This story sounds like one of thoses cases where the city is supposed to take care of it, but it’s the DOT that is supposed to take care of it. It’s a fine line where nobody wants to take care of it. They would rather spend two years passing the buck rather than hold someone accountable for completing a simple task.

    • It is the duty of the state department of transportation to take care of it because it is a state highway. They are the responsible agency that put those unneeded left-turn-only lanes at that intersection in the first place.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.