Comments on: Ann Arbor Caucus: Fires, Fines, Fuller

By: Fred Posner

Fred Posner — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:45:27 +0000

Ms. Summersgill,

This substance is no more dangerous on a porch than inside a house. A cigarette inside could as easily ignite this couch. And, of course this is less dangerous than a bottle of lighter fluid on a porch. If you feel you cannot safely use a couch outside, please do not do so. However, do not legislate your fear onto me or any other person. Part of living in a FREE society is just that, living in a free society. If I want a couch outside, I should be able to put one outside. But leave it my choice.

By: Jack F.

Jack F. — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:19:38 +0000

Then the next step is for Council to hold several months of discussion on banning sofas entirely. Since we are cutting fire fighters and they could potentially catch on fire indoors, it would be a win-win for public safety. People can just sit on the floor.

By: Kathy Summersgill

Kathy Summersgill — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:30:07 +0000

Mr. Posner, the problem with an indoor couch on a porch is the materials that a couch is made of is highly flammable. Polyurethane foam from a couch is called solid gasoline. A fire that should have been very small (say, a small trash fire) erupts into a very large fire in moments when poyurethane is introduced. While these couches are obviously not spontaneously combusting, they do provide a similar catalyst as gasoline. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), about 10 people die each week in fires where upholstered furniture is the first item ignited. Why are people so against putting a potentially dangerous item on the front porch?

By: Alan Goldsmith

Alan Goldsmith — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:01:00 +0000

Initially is was going to take one year of city road funds to pay for the bridge, and now it’s TWO?

By: John Kidle

John Kidle — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:13:33 +0000

A prediction of things to come…
City officials continue to pursue state and federal funding sources while dismissing as “impractical” all alternatives to the grand two-bridge plan. They receive copious amounts of lip service but no actual funding. City engineers abruptly close the bridge over State Street during the Michigan-Michigan State football game when a deteriorated beam falls, nearly crushing a late arriving fan–traffic chaos ensues. Within days a local environmental group demands that the now defunct Stadium Corridor be made part of the Greenway. Before City Council can act, homeless activists establish Camp Take Notice II on the bridge ruins. The city’s calls to state and federal offices for funding assistance go unreturned. The Mayor says a city income tax must be approved to generate the funds needed for re-opening the bridge. Grass grows in the pavement cracks on Stadium. Area residents despair.

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:28:23 +0000

$22.1 million was the last estimate I saw for the complete reconstruction of both the State Street and AARR bridges.

I think the RR bridge still has a number of years left in it–it was the condition State Street bridge that brought this all to a head. Engineers gave the RR bridge a rating of 61.5, but the State Street bridge got a 2–that’s out of 100 points possible.

What I’d like to see is an estimate to simply replace the precast beams on the State Street bridge and repave.

By: Fred Posner

Fred Posner — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:56:16 +0000

Besides what’s already been spent, they’re saying it’s a cost of around $21 million to fix the bridge.

By: Alan Goldsmith

Alan Goldsmith — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:15:10 +0000

Tom, hopefully this option will be on the table by the time the next Mayor and Council take office after the November election.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:49:52 +0000

Agree with Tom.

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:37:58 +0000

Let’s just repair the bridge and save ourselves millions.