Urban Planet is a daily roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
Houston, Texas is not known for its innovations in planning, but check out the vibrant crosswalks outside its Museum of Fine Art. This post on Drilling for Art examines the diversity of crosswalks across America (many of which are named after animals) and questions their ability to provide safe crossing for pedestrians.
Image from Drilling for Art
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On the other side, there was this old story at http://www.livablenorwalk.org/2010/04/norwalks-missing-crosswalks.html where they have MISSING crosswalks as a norm.
“Norwalk’s missing crosswalks
Why does a pedestrian have to cross the street to cross the street? In most of the country, intersections have crosswalks on all four sides. In Norwalk, almost no intersections do.
A pedestrian at the intersection above, West Ave & Orchard St, might have to pass through three crosswalks just to cross the street. Can you imagine waiting for a walk sign, crossing the road, pushing the walk button, crossing again, pushing the walk button a third time and finally reaching your destination? Neither can I. In reality, this configuration just encourages jaywalking.
In traffic engineering, an intersection that delays cars more than 80 seconds delivers a Level of Service (LOS) F. This intersection is LOS F for pedestrians.
How big is this problem? It affects almost every intersection in Norwalk, on city roads and state roads. When I asked about this issue for the N Main St & Ann St intersection, I was told that the traffic consultant had advised that a crosswalk on all sides would be too many crosswalks.
I am not sure how we wound up with this unusual idea of what an intersection should look like, or why we adhere to it even in our most pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods. However, this is a policy that is long overdue for an update.”