Crosswalks
2014-12-22 14:00:46.051292+01 by
meuon
1 comments
http://www.dissentmagazine.org...urbs-traffic-engineering-poverty
Good article on traffic/pedestrian patterns, although a cold part of me thinks of
"darwinism in action" regarding some of the issues, their points regarding
distances and usability of crosswalks are correct.
An interesting observation is how pedestrian and bicycle friendly beachside and
resort communities are, often with wide landscaped walkways and paths and well
marked crosswalks.
For the record: When conditions are right I prefer to cross in the middle of streets
where I have a clear view of vehicles coming towards me. Intersections have too
many variables, cars turning with short notice, changing directions and often
distracted by everything else going on.
[ related topics:
Community Pedal Power Bicycling
]
comments in descending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: Crosswalks made: 2014-12-22 19:33:28.446393+01 by:
Dan Lyke
Yeah, I developed a preference for crossing in the middle of blocks circa 1990 in downtown Chattanooga: Late at night there was nobody downtown but us skaters and the cops, and the cops would blow around corners through lights and were generally terrifying. Much safer to cross in the middle of the street when we could see them coming.
But to the general point of the article: Yes, we've built environments that demand automobiles. Automobiles are incredibly expensive, way more expensive than acquisition costs, and attempting to skimp on them leads to big variable costs (that occasional huge repair), which are deadly to poor people on a budget. So we've not only built expensive dangerous environments, we've built ones that lure people into making bad financial decisions.
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