New Rochelle seems to have a penchant for three sided pedestrian crossings on four corner intersections. The more I walk my community the more of these I see. Why? I've looked at the Federal Highway Administration's guidelines and see some great information about improving pedestrian safety and nothing about three sided crossings. Is it a move by New Rochelle to save paint? How many pedestrians standing on corner A wanting to get to corner D are going to wait for the light to walk from A to B and then wait for the light to cross from B to C and then wait again to get from C to D? Not this one. I'm going to walk across the street from corner A to corner D even if it doesn't have a crosswalk. I know this increases my risk of getting run over, particularly in these days of texting drivers. I know a driver wanting to turn and having a green light and seeing no pedestrian crossing is going to figure s/he has right of way. Just as I also feel I should have the right to walk across the street without completing three sides of a square and waiting for traffic signals on all three sides.
What three sided pedestrian crossings create is confusion and conflict between transportation modes. I suspect there is a misguided belief that pedestrians will use the crossings and leave the unmarked side open for drivers turning, thereby keeping the traffic flowing. That faceless all important 'traffic'. Once more making it clear that in the land of engineers, a person in a car is more important than someone on foot. Enrique Penalosa would call this flawed democracy.
Please, can we have pedestrian crossings on all four sides?
And while we're at it, can we do something about improving sight lines for drivers so they don't consistently stop across pedestrian crossings in order to see what is coming when they want to legally turn while on a red light?
What three sided pedestrian crossings create is confusion and conflict between transportation modes. I suspect there is a misguided belief that pedestrians will use the crossings and leave the unmarked side open for drivers turning, thereby keeping the traffic flowing. That faceless all important 'traffic'. Once more making it clear that in the land of engineers, a person in a car is more important than someone on foot. Enrique Penalosa would call this flawed democracy.
Please, can we have pedestrian crossings on all four sides?
And while we're at it, can we do something about improving sight lines for drivers so they don't consistently stop across pedestrian crossings in order to see what is coming when they want to legally turn while on a red light?
This intersection has traffic lights but no crossing lights for pedestrians, a curb cut with lawn and pedestrian crossing markings on three sides (two visible in the photo). If I was standing on the corner with the tree wanting to get to the house across the street am I really going to walk around three sides of the intersection to get there? I don't think so.
Here's a corner I was almost run over on. This intersection has one crossing marked (on the left of the photo) so even with the best will in the world crossing safely is not easy, especially if, like me, you are unwilling to wait for several light sequences to avoid turning traffic. I was crossing from left to right and drivers coming from the right and turning left made it very clear I should NOT have been on the street crossing where they were turning. Aggressive and territorial are the words that come to mind to describe their driving style.
The bike lane here is also incomplete. Now you see it.....and now you don't. It does not continue on the other side of the intersection. Would I bike here? Not a chance!
The bike lane here is also incomplete. Now you see it.....and now you don't. It does not continue on the other side of the intersection. Would I bike here? Not a chance!
This is the same road as above but a couple of blocks along from the previous photo. This was taken very close to a shopping center where it would make good sense to have easy walking and cycling. But instead the cycle lane and the sidewalk both disappear. And yet there is road reserve up there in the distance that could be used. Did it get too hard? Did the traffic engineer's budget run out? Design like this seems to me to be more dangerous than doing nothing. Now pedestrians and cyclists are lured in to thinking they can safely get from here to there but nope. They are spat out into traffic.
This is a three sided intersection on Pelham Road. There are some good features here. Note the island on the left where pedestrians can safely wait if they get stranded in the middle of a very long intersection. Unfortunately there is no crosswalk in front of the bus by the bank and look ma, no pedestrian signals!
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