Tired of seeing roadside memorials along Highway 156, a caller
asked the Crusader to find out about the rules governing the
placement of wooden crosses and flowers at spots along the road
where someone has died in a vehicle accident.
Tired of seeing roadside memorials along Highway 156, a caller asked the Crusader to find out about the rules governing the placement of wooden crosses and flowers at spots along the road where someone has died in a vehicle accident.
“I can’t put myself in the shoes of people who have lost a loved one, but (roadside crosses) are posted all along the side of the highway between Hollister and San Juan Bautista,” she said.
Her main complaint, the caller said, was that once they are erected, roadside memorials are often left unmaintained and become an eyesore.
“If you’re going to do something like that, at least keep it up,” she said. “They’re weather-beaten, there are dead flowers – they just look horrible. I don’t see how that’s paying homage to a family member who is deceased, who has been killed in a car accident there. … That’s what cemeteries are for.”
Caltrans does remove roadside memorials if they are placed on a Caltrans right-of-way, such as the shoulder of a highway, according to Caltrans spokesperson Susana Cruz. Before crews take them down, however, Caltrans often lets the memorial remain up for a short time out of respect for those mourning a loss, she added.
“If they don’t pose a threat (to motorists), sometimes we let them stay a little while to be compassionate,” Cruz said. “But then we pick them up.”
If the roadside memorial is on private property along the road, which many in San Benito County are, Caltrans has no authority to move them, she said.
City Water Discount for Seniors Still in Effect
Our caller inquired about a City of Hollister program that gives residents who are at least 62 years old a 25 percent discount on their water bills.
Why hasn’t she been seeing the discount on her bill, asked our caller.
“Senior citizens are the ones who get hit the most,” she said. “We just keep getting taxed and taxed and taxed and we’re already in the hole to begin with.”
Her $700 per month social security isn’t going to be increased, she added.
Help is on the way, caller.
Robert Galvan, who runs the city Finance Department, told the Crusader that the senior discount program is still in effect. City staff is in the midst of reviewing past water billings to determine who is enrolled in the program, he said, and seniors should see a credit for the accumulated 25 percent discount on a ccoming water bill.
To participate in the program, people must be at least 62 and provide evidence that they already receive discounted telephone or gas and electric service.
