Now that spring is here (2019) I’ve been walking to the office more. This week the elevator is out, so I get to do the 100 stairs as well, 2 or 3 times a day. It’s pretty fun to walk it, mostly pretty clean and safe. There are 2 ways to get there, basically…under the train trestle down Broadway, or up Pierce St to Central and crossing over the tracks. Both have their charms and non-charms.
The Broadway walk is shorter and more in the neighborhood, but crossing under the tracks is always a little scary. It’s also gross with garbage and in the warm weather has plenty of vagrants. It’s dark even on a sunny day. But once you’re through it, head down towards the fire house and cross over, and it’s smooth sailing to the office down the hill. Takes about 7 minutes.
Other route is a little tricky because there’s no sidewalk on the south side of the road; you have to jump onto grass when cars are coming. You hit central and make a left, cross over the train tracks (it doesn’t seem like it’s 15 feet uphill, the tracks must come downhill some) and walk towards Broadway. Long traffic light and you have to wait for the walk signal.
Once there, the walks converge. The really dicey part is crossing over Portland avenue. The cars come ripping around the “U” in Dover and people start accelerating when they are making the right to head to Maine. It’s rare to get someone to stop for the crosswalk. The driveway to Smiley’s beer & wine is also dangerous but it’s shorter so you can get across faster. It’s downhill all the way from Broadway, at least 40 feet, cause you’re looking straight at the 4th floor of our building from Broadway but of course wind up on the first floor of 1 Washington. That’s about 3 feet above the river, which is essentially sea level.
Tom's Walks 