Leaving New Deal

Traffic was light. On the way out of town, pausing in my car at the turn-off for I-27 South, I tried to capture the landscape around New Deal, and used telephoto a lot.

There was actually something a bit like topography evident!

 I wanted to take the frontage road back to Lubbock but it terminated in a U and I had to double back and actually get back on I-27.

As I doubled back I found these stacks of preformed concrete piled at the side of the road. There was a lot of it! You can also see from the pics that the highway is not very well maintained. Look at the weeds. Look at the state of the paving and the concrete structures. Piss poor, I think. After doubling back I found a place to pick up the frontage road again as I entered Lubbock.
I was able to pull off to the side of the road and take pics of the old, abandoned, recycling center my wife and I documented years ago. Still there, and still an eyesore, as well as a probable health hazard. NOTHING is done about it. NO effort has been made to clean it up or restrict access.

There's nothing to keep children from wandering into this area, where there are many physical and probably chemical hazards. It's really a disgrace, but the neglect and indifference tells you a lot about Lubbock.

Is it in "legal limbo"? That's no excuse! You could argue that it's an attractive nuisance. I would really want the soil tested, too. Does anyone know what's been dumped out there? PCBs? Pesticides? Benzene? How about the ground water in the vicinity of this place?

When I visited this time, and even the first time about five years ago, there was no fencing, no barriers of any kind, not even "no trespassing notices"!  Wide open! Unrestricted access!

On the other hand, it is great to photograph. It is more picturesque than most other parts of town, and more interesting. That tells you something about Lubbock as well.

Odds are it'll stay like this for many more years.

I'm glad I made this trip because it is another step along the winding road my wife and I traveled, another set of steps retraced. There are many more to go.
And now, for Citizen's Tower...

A lot of money is going into this thing. It had been an eyesore for many years. Maybe this will be money well spent. We'll see.