Has anyone noticed the horrible damage that the new construction is doing to South 42nd street? It was once a pleasant drive on a smooth concrete surface, but no longer.

On the Veteran’s Memorial Drive side there is a dip that is very noticeable. On the 42nd street side there is at least one major bump that lifted me out of my seat. That is no small task since I am a large man.

I understand that there is construction in the area, and the city is running sewer for the new development (who’s paying for that?). What I don’t understand is why the temporary patches can’t be made a little smoother. I am aware that it is a heavily traveled road and that any work being done causes inconvenience. There should be some way to smooth out the roadway a little so that it does not do so much damage to vehicles.

First off, the city is aware of the issues at the station from my information and IS at some stage of getting these matters corrected. Secondly, the statements made below are based on information gathered from confidential sources. I just think that it’s garbage that the firemen in charge of protecting our lives and possibly dying while doing so are treated to conditions so deplorable and arguably unsafe.

To begin with, the roof had holes. A local company was hired to do the repair. The repairs were made as best they could be for the moment. Now, there are several more issues that still need to be addressed at this location by the city. I have photos, and will publish them as I can add them.

The list isn’t extremely long that I have, but it is full of rather important issues:

1. The support beam that runs between the garage doors at the front of the building comes at least an inch from making contact with the concrete.

2. There are many points just below the roof that leak/have leaked, including just above the sleeping quarters.

3. The drain in the concrete to the front of the building appears to be unstable. While one can’t be sure without digging, it seems to be caving-in. I believe that I understood correctly one of the ladder trucks had to be moved to another station due to fear of the pad not handling they weight if it was pulled out onto the pad.

4. Water pools to the front of the building in the bay instead of flowing down the drains as it should. This is likely related to the shifting of the building, but still needs to be addressed.

5. The front of the building appears to be pulling away from the rear based on cracks in the building that continue to grow over time.

I will say that the conditions are pretty bad. My observations and information are not from engineers or construction experts, but just from my experience. Like I said at the beginning of this post, the city did hire a local company to make the repairs, and they did the emergency repairs that they could. I was told they are examining the issues above in detail and will make suggestions for repairs once the evaluation is done. That is great, and good job making sure everything is done correctly.

I am making this post so that taxpayers can see something in the community that I believe should be fixed well and quickly. Is this how protectors of our homes and lives should be treated? I don’t think so and I hope you don’t either.