Here are a brace of taxis, one driver waving to the other as they wait on the pedestrian crossing for lights to change.
The Challenge: To walk all 175 miles of roads in the 10.67 square miles of New Rochelle, New York, the small city where I live. The map below shows New Rochelle outlined in pink. And the next map shows the tiny bit of ground we covered on our first afternoon, outlined in green. It was a slow walk because there was a lot to see and think about even in such a small area. We started at the Home Depot car park near the corner of Weyman and Main Street. The intersection here is miserable for pedestrians even on a quiet late Sunday afternoon. Cars pull up across the pedestrian crossings while waiting to turn and at least one of the crossings appears to only give a cross signal if the button has been pushed.
Here are a brace of taxis, one driver waving to the other as they wait on the pedestrian crossing for lights to change.
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Transportation Alternatives is organizing a rally to highlight the pedestrian deaths to date this year and to try to reduce the number of additional deaths. The rally will be held this Wednesday at City Hall Manhattan. Help spread the word and come along. Seven pedestrians have been killed on NYC streets in the last week alone.
Time: 8:30 - 9:00 Date: Wednesday August 7, 2013 Where: City Hall Steps Manhattan. Duane Street NY, NY TA states that these pedestrians had right of way and as I believe pedestrians, as the most vulnerable road users, SHOULD have right of way I will be at the rally and I fully support Transportation Alternative's desire to raise the profile on these deaths, to demand improved safety and to take action to reduce pedestrian deaths. I then looked up the rules and was disturbed by the tone of the document and how little rights it seems pedestrians really have. Section 4-04 of the NYCDOT Traffic Rules is below. Section 4-04 PEDESTRIANS (a) Pedestrians subject to traffic rules, except as otherwise provided herein. Pedestrians shall be subject to traffic control signals and pedestrian control signals as provided in §§4-03(a) and 4-03(b) of these rules and to the lawful orders and directions of any law enforcement officer, but at all other places pedestrians shall be accorded the privileges and shall be subject to the restrictions stated in this section. (b) Right of way in crosswalks. (1) Operators to yield to pedestrians in crosswalk. When traffic control signals or pedestrian control signals are not in place or not in operation, the operator of a vehicle shall yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing a roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is in the path of the vehicle or is approaching so closely thereto as to be in danger. (2) Pedestrians shall not cross in front of oncoming vehicles. Notwithstanding the provisions of (1) of this subdivision (b), no pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the operator to yield. (3) Vehicles stopped for pedestrians. Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the operator of any other vehicle approaching from the rear in the same or adjacent lanes shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle. (c) Restrictions on crossings. (1) No pedestrian shall enter or cross a roadway at any point where signs, fences, barriers, or other devices are erected to prohibit or restrict such crossing or entry. (2) No pedestrian shall cross any roadway at an intersection except within a crosswalk. (3) No pedestrian shall cross a roadway except at a crosswalk on any block in which traffic control signals are in operation at both intersections bordering the block. (d) Operators to exercise due care. Notwithstanding other provisions of these rules, the operator of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian. Reading the Traffic Rules makes me feel like a dog on a short leash. I accept that we pedestrians need to pay attention to where we are going and other forms of transportation but there are many things that can be done to make life safer for people on foot. I will be exploring some of these as I report on the New Rochelle Street Walking Challenge. For now, attend the rally if you possible can! The newly elected mayor of Rome is planning on pedestrianizing the Via dei Fori Imperiali; Rome’s famous chaotic arterial roadway that snakes by the Colosseum and cuts it off from Piazza Venezia. Thanks Gordon Price of PriceTags Vancouver for this!
The Daily Mail article this map comes from talks about the loss of children's ability to roam. Increasing traffic is part of the fear parents have about letting children walk to school, walk to visit friends and walk to local shops but we also hear in such overwhelming and repeated detail about the rare abducted child that parents have a hyper awareness of stranger danger when according to Walk 21's Rodney Tolley statistics show the danger is no more than it was one hundred years ago. Time to trust our children a little more and our televisions a little less.
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Author: Nina ArronI am an enthusiastic pedestrian, urban planner, and project manager currently living in New Rochelle, New York. I am grateful to be living in a walkable city with affordable easily accessible public transport (both trains and buses). My appreciation became even greater after spending three years back in New Zealand where it was much harder to fit daily walking into my life in what is considered one of the great natural, green environments in the world. Archives
February 2019
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