Ask Answerman

After getting hooked on Heroes, I’ve developed a soft spot for caped and uncaped crusaders. So, I’m turning this week’s column over to Answerman (think Anchorman, minus Ron Burgundy’s suave suits and hair).

Has he uncovered anything that will change the world? Not really. But if you find yourself tooling around Chico, he might make your drive more enlightened …

What’s with all the leaves?

For the past few weeks, leaf piles have lined city streets and avenues. Some stacks have grown as tall as small cars and, on certain blocks, fill most every available curbside parking space. They aren’t all from homeowners’ rakes—Answerman witnessed a truck dump a mound on Orient.

Public Works Supervisor Kirby White attributes the build-ups to two things: earlier leaf drops because of the early cold spell and city annexations that added to his department’s turf. Leaf-cleaners rotate through Chico every eight or nine business days (i.e., about two weeks), starting in the southwest and rotating clockwise.

As for the aforementioned dumping, believe it or not, it’s probably legal! White said landscapers who clean private properties are allowed to leave those leaves in the street, as long as they don’t encroach on rights of way. Hmmm …

Public service note: Crews only pick up leaves. Piles with branches, trash and Christmas trees get bypassed.

Is Big Brother controlling traffic?

Answerman thought so last weekend, when he spied stoplight cameras on Mangrove and The Skyway. Are we being watched? Recorded? Charted? Remember, it’s only paranoia if it isn’t true.

Turns out these cameras are sensors, high-tech versions of the metal trapezoids imbedded in asphalt. Engineering Director Fritz McKinney says the cameras detect only “a change in pixels”—they don’t see specifics and couldn’t be hooked up to a monitor even if the city wanted to. Data comes to City Hall as a digital display that McKinney’s staff can use to adjust the traffic signals’ settings.

Mangrove, First Avenue, The Skyway—where else will pavement do a Houdini act?

The Answermobile absorbed the blows of potholes, then the ground-down construction zones, before the streets regained their silky smooth texture. Who knows where the next rough patch lurks …

Well, actually, McKinney does. East Avenue is undergoing work from PG&E; next year, the city will add some flourishes—e.g., the cameras, also planned for Forest Avenue. Projects on tap include the Skyway-99 overpass, the East 20th Street corridor, sewer lines impacting Eaton Road, and roundabouts on Manzanita Avenue (at Vallombrosa, Hooker Oak and Wildwood avenues).

What about The Esplanade?

It’ll stay a camera-free zone. With the way the stoplights are set, McKinney says a driver can sail down the boulevard without hitting a red light. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Wait, you can drive The Esplanade and not hit a red light?

That surprised Answerman too. Yes, if your speedometer stays on the magic number.

And that is … ?

Twenty-eight.

So, at that not-so-blinding speed: Answerman, away!!!!