Since when does Franklin have marked lanes????

Those two yellow stripes down the center define marked lanes......

To think that @Jane might have a license to operate a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth.

Much of Franklin Street is missing those yellow lines. In fact, about half of the Town roads are missing them because they were painted with eco-friendly paint that fades away in a couple of years.

Ron, I hold government accountable whenever it is appropriate. I have served in Reading town government as a volunteer for over 25 years and have been quite vocal if the issues deserve feedback. I personally do not need to be lectured or counseled by you or anyone else on holding Reading government accountable when the need arises. By and large, Reading officials do a fine job in managing this town. BTW, somehow I seem to have missed your participation in Reading issues and vocal accountability concerns over the years.

Fred: If you don't want people to dwell in minutia why do you keep commenting on this issue. I think Jane was being sarcastic but as usual everything on the Patch turns into an argument.

Sad that this discussion focused on marked lanes, or the absence thereof. This gentleman made the choice to drive under the influence; lanes markings are irrelevant in comparison.

Marked lanes or no marked lanes you as a driver know what side of the road you should be in. Hope you never never come across a "No Standing".

I usually find the comments to these stories more informative than the stories themselves, even when they do not pertain to the story itself. No one is defending the driver here, and it is disappointing that other commenters are missing this key point. You can safely assume we all condemn driving under the influence with equal vigor and we are grateful to the Reading patrolman for a job well done. Unfortunately, these kinds of accidents happen far too often. Mr. Hartford is still young, and if he learns his lesson properly, has time to recover from this moment of poor judgment. Fortunately, he did not seriously hurt himself or anyone else.

For those of you who are wondering why the tax dollars you are spending to ensure that the town roads are adequately maintained aren't going to keeping lane markers on Town roads, you now know the cause of the problem and the solution. The ball is in your court, and you can choose to use this information or ignore it. But it's not entirely a waste of your time to read and now know this. Really.

Unrelated, but why is the funeral home on Linden Street allowed to put out No Parking signs and reserve parking spots for themselves on a public street? Maybe Reading's parking enforcement person can answer this question for us.

But why does Barile Funeral Home keep the signs out all of the time? I went by there today and the signs were out and there was nothing going on, people are afraid to park there.

i am amazed how a funeral procession can just barrel through an intersection on the way to the cemetary but a fire truck, police car or ambulance must stop first. what is so important about getting to a cemetary? the priorities are a little messed up just like this town and state

Are you people who are making negative comments about the funeral homes serious?
If you are, get over it. Would you feel the same way if the services were for one of your family members ?

Maybe the town can bill the Barile Funeral Home for the parking spots they hold even when there are no services at their location, this is from the latest Selectman's meeting: "In other action, the selectmen voted 4-0 to change the parking regulations for some 14 parking spaces on the south side of Woburn Street, between Brande Court and Linden Street, to allow local business owners and their employees to park there all day with a blue tag. The tag costs $250 a year. Parking in the area is in short supply, the selectmen said, and limited to two hours there now."