Q: Why hasn’t the fountain in City Park Lake worked for months?  They have milk jugs where the fountain was and the island is overgrown with weeds. Why hasn’t the American flag been put back up on the lake’s island since they took the Christmas tree down?

Why hasn’t the fountain on the corner at East Innes and Depot streets worked for months?

While you are at it, why did they pave over our brick cross walks at Innes and Long?

— Nash Isenhower, Salisbury

A. City staff removed the flag from the City Lake island after the tree lighting last year. Zack Kyle, assistant city manager, said having the flag on the island required a staff person to get in a boat and travel to the flag whenever it needed to be lowered. “We do have the American flag at the memorial in City Park, and the plan is to replace the American flag at the lake with the parks and recreation flag,” he said. The Veterans Memorial Plaza is at the Jackson Street end of the park.

City Manager Lane Bailey says the crosswalks at Innes and Long had stamped asphalt crosswalks that looked like pavers. The city plans to stamp the asphalt to restore that look in the spring, he says.

Other crosswalk improvements are on the way in that area, says city engineer Wendy Brindle.

“We are also working to get push-button pedestrian signals at the intersections of Innes and Long streets and at Innes Street and Martin Luther King Jr Ave.,” Brindle said. This requires Department of Transportation approval; the city expects completion within the current budget year.

“Also, we are applying to place rapid flashing beacons at the intersection of North Long Street and Liberty Street, adjacent to Rowan Helping Ministries. The devices are allowed as a ‘test’ within North Carolina. With the high pedestrian volume in this area, we feel this would be an excellent location. Again, these require approval from NCDOT, but we have started the process.”

The fountain at East Innes and Depot has developed a leak and needs work, Bailey says. The city made a temporary fix so the fountain could operate for a few weeks, from the time Preservation North Carolina held its conference here through OctoberTour weekend. The city turned it off and plans to fix the leak and make other repairs. Work could start this week.

We are still awaiting an answer on your first question, the fountain at City Lake. To be continued.

 

Q: Who is responsible for the school zone flashing light at Salisbury High School?  Why have they been flashing at times other that what is posted on the sign since last spring?

Henry Buck
Salisbury

 

A. Glad you asked. The city of Salisbury maintains those lights. Wendy Brindle, city engineer, had this to say when we forwarded your question to her:

“We were not aware that this was occurring and have asked the signal tech to program the correct times. Also, the flasher closest to Fulton was damaged and is currently inoperable. The signal technician is also working to get this repaired.”