Median by median, Ruskin plans to spruce up U.S. 41
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published May 2, 2003
Ruskin, to me, has always been a nice place to take a drive.
And that drive down U.S. 41 is about to get a little more pleasant, thanks to the Ruskin Community Development Foundation.
The foundation is engaging the community in a $140,000 beautification project designed to spruce up the medians along U.S. 41. The goal is to plant drought-resistant flowers and vegetation, such as palm trees, along the road to give Ruskin's main thoroughfare a natural, native look.
One median has been planted, and another dozen or so will follow in the next six months to a year, foundation president Wade Clark said.
"We're attempting to do this one median at a time," Clark said.
SouthShore Landscape sponsored the first median, and the Ruskin Women's Club is about to start work on the second. In the coming months, Clark and the foundation will be hitting up other businesses for tax-deductible sponsorships of the remaining medians.
Residents, too, are getting involved. Volunteer Debbie Cummings is trying to get community members involved in the project through a series of vegetation workshops at Camp Bayou in Ruskin.
"It's to teach people how to propagate native plants, with the ultimate hope that some people will volunteer to help us propagate plants for the 41 median project," she said.
The next workshop will be May 17 at Camp Bayou. To get involved, call the camp at 641-8545.
THE MANUALLY OPERATED RAILROAD CROSSING, much like the handlebar moustache and the AMC Pacer, should have been wiped from the earth in a flood years ago.
It has simply outlived its usefulness. And you know I have an axie-worthy example to prove it.
On April 16 two trucks were driving north on U.S. 41 just south of Causeway Boulevard. They approached a railroad crossing, but the control bar appeared to be malfunctioning.
So driver No. 1 pulled over to the side of the road, walked back to the crossing, and heroically lifted the bar by hand. On the crash report, this is illustrated by an adorable little drawing of a tiny stick figure holding up a tiny crossbar.
The second driver pulls across the tracks at a normal, cautious rate of speed, probably waving a friendly thank-you to the tiny stick figure.
Out of nowhere, though, another car zooms by and swerves in front of the second driver, forcing him to swerve over to the shoulder and - you guessed it - square into the stick figure's truck.
It's bad enough that the second truck driver was charged with careless driving. And it's unfortunate that the first driver had parked unevenly, leaving one corner of his truck sticking out into the road. He was charged with failure to allow free movement of traffic while parking on the shoulder of a roadway.
But then it gets ugly. Estimated damage to the two trucks was $37,000. And perhaps even more upsetting is the fact that one of the trucks was carrying 20 cases of wine coolers, valued at $400.
So the next time you get an urge to work on the railroad all the livelong day, remember this:
The Pacer once seemed like a good idea, too.
- The Lane Ranger is currently stuck in traffic. But he can be reached at 661-2442 or cridlin@sptimes.com
