9/8/2008
News Journal's Fix It Column Features Weiner's Citizens Anti-Graffiti Brigade at Del. 141 near Kennett Pike, Greenville

Fix It: Del. 141 near Kennett Pike, Greenville
THE NEWS JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

PROBLEM: Graffiti on the railroad bridge. Driving down Del. 141 from Concord Pike is not only scenic, but enough to fill any Delawarean with pride. You pass Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and the DuPont Experimental Station -- cutting-edge, world-class work gets done at both places. There's the Nemours Mansion and Gardens and Hagley Museum and Library as well. Then you get to the bridge, where there's small graffiti on the base and a gargantuan "NERD HUMOR" message on the overpass itself. Hockessin resident Colin P. Hunt said the bridge has been defaced for years, but its appearance is now at an all-time low.

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE: The graffiti raises many questions beyond Fix It's pay grade to answer. First, it seems unlikely that nerds were brave enough to climb out on to the bridge to deface it. Second, we don't find graffiti in general, or this piece of vandalism in particular, funny. No matter. It's DelDOT's responsibility to clean the base of the overpass and the railroad company's job to maintain the structure itself. DelDOT and New Castle County Councilman Robert S. Weiner are trying to get the railroad company to clean it, but the company they are pursuing says it doesn't own the bridge. DelDOT has cleaned the base several times, but new graffiti always reappears. Weiner's Citizens Anti-Graffiti Brigade, a year-old group that works countywide, has been there dozens of times. "The best way to combat graffiti is with an immediate counterattack of removing it," he said.

LAST WEEK: Sidewalks in disrepair on Lancaster Avenue near Wilmington. A privately owned apartment complex is responsible for the repairs, DelDOT officials said. Fix It still is trying to determine when it will be fixed.

Got a problem getting around Delaware? The News Journal wants to hear about it. Contact Night Metro Editor Stephen Daily at 324-2412 or sdaily@delawareonline.com with "Fix It" in the subject line, a description of the problem and a location. If you have your own photo of something you want fixed, send it and we'll consider publishing it in this weekly feature appearing Mondays.

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