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Walker said:
Or, just have the buses stop 500 feet closer to the crosswalk.
That could leave a lot of cars behind them in the middle of intersections when a light turns red. Not sure that's too much safer.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
Record-High Pedestrian Deaths in Franklin County
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alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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Walker said:
Dumping off bus passengers mid-block on long blocks is practically begging them to jaywalkThere's a compounding factor: the stopped bus presents a blind spot to drivers approaching from behind. A person crossing the street (or a vehicle entering from a driveway) may not consider this, and enter into the moving vehicle's lane.
I drove a dump-bed Cushman on the OSU campus, and I learned to treat a stopped campus bus as a stop sign, especially in the first ten seconds or so after it stops. People would stream across the road without looking, and that was back before everyone had their attention devoted to some electronic device.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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joev said:
That could leave a lot of cars behind them in the middle of intersections when a light turns red. Not sure that's too much safer.You're describing a situation where the tail end of the bus is against the crosswalk at one end of the block. Instead, the bus could stop on the other end of the block where the front end is at the crosswalk, as if the bus were just stopping at the red light.
This is beginning to sound like one of those things that is just *too* simple and easy for it to work. ;)
Posted 3 months ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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I generally think that Jay walking is a bad idea. Now if there are no cars on the road and there are no crosswalks near I do not see an issue with crossing in the middle. However, that last statement is common sense and I think we know by now that there are many people who lack common sense. That said I really dislike people who jaywalk on busy streets or during prime hours it is stupid. I really wish a cop would sit at Long and 3rd right in front of the two parking garages and hand out tickets to those workers who constantly stop traffic, run in front of traffic and just mope their ass along while crossing even though there is a crosswalk thirty feet away.
Now pedestrians are not always wrong I can say that I have been almost run down more times, than I can count that the intersection of Long and 3rd and I am crossing the right way. Just the other day a COTA bus ran that red light and hit an old woman crossing on foot and while she had the cross light.
ETA: Oh one more thing, whoever thought that putting a crosswalk at the end of a freeway exit ramp is a moron. There is one at Sawmill and 270 worst idea ever…
Posted 3 months ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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The problem on High Street through Downtown is that half of our streets were closed off back when High Street was turned into a "transit mall" for buses. That got rid of half of the automobile intersections, which also means that half of the pedestrian crossings were removed.
If people need to cross the street at logical placements, then why not re-add intersections for pedestrian crossings rather than force them through police ticketing to inconveniently walk around the car-priority thoroughfare?
I think it could be an interesting experiment to see signals and crosswalks re-added across High at Locust Street, Hickory Street, Lafayette Street, Elm Street, Lynn Street, The Statehouse, Chapel Street, Walnut Street, Cherry Street, Noble Street, and Engler Street. We had them there once, back when walking was more of a priority.
Posted 3 months ago # -
murfmurphy
Westgate
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Walker said:
The problem on High Street through Downtown is that half of our streets were closed off back when High Street was turned into a "transit mall" for buses. That got rid of half of the automobile intersections, which also means that half of the pedestrian crossings were removed.If people need to cross the street at logical placements, then why not re-add intersections for pedestrian crossings rather than force them through police ticketing to inconveniently walk around the car-priority thoroughfare?
I think it could be an interesting experiment to see signals and crosswalks re-added across High at Locust Street, Hickory Street, Lafayette Street, Elm Street, Lynn Street, The Statehouse, Chapel Street, Walnut Street, Cherry Street, Noble Street, and Engler Street. We had them there once, back when walking was more of a priority.
Why not just enforce the cross walks as they stand? The crosswalks are there for pedestrians to use, if you need to get across the street in the middle of the block then cross the street before your destination, not at your destination. I've stopped on Broad near the Target and Kroger because a women was crossing the street with her toddler. Not carrying the toddler, walking with them. The crosswalks are there for a reason and they should be enforced. Maybe they can be moved and re-designed at a later date, but at this point there needs to be some heavy enforcement.
Posted 3 months ago # -
mrpoppinzs
Arena District
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Walker's suggestion might help downtown, but I am not so sure*. I live in the Arena District and frequent the Short North. The amount of people wandering between parked cars to cross High St in the Short North makes it seem like an Easton parking lot. The lack of intersections is really not an issue in the SN. I think people are relatively lazy and assume that they are quicker/smarter/more visible than they are.
I never thought I would be for this, but I think they should start ticketing the jay walkers. I really don't want some drunk bar hopper bouncing off my hood.
* one possibility is more intersections would equal slower traffic and a percieved lower level of difficulty for the frogger wannabe's ;)
Posted 3 months ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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Walker said:
I think it could be an interesting experiment to see signals and crosswalks re-added across High at Locust Street, Hickory Street, Lafayette Street, Elm Street, Lynn Street, The Statehouse, Chapel Street, Walnut Street, Cherry Street, Noble Street, and Engler Street. We had them there once, back when walking was more of a priority.We should add Hague Avenue to that list. The speed limit being 35 and it’s a big Jaywalking area in defense of the pedestrians there are no crosswalks between West Broad and Sullivant avenue on that stretch of Hague.
I don’t think that much can be done downtown to discourage jaywalking people are in too much of a hurry.Posted 3 months ago # -
GCrites80s
5xNW
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Jaywalking used to get you the death penalty in this town. We were notorious for our strict enforcement. The police eventually backed off because it was causing too much animosity.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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murfmurphy said:
Why not just enforce the cross walks as they stand?Because they don't work. I'm not sure if this is true, or an urban legend, but I recall hearing that the sidewalks through the Oval at OSU were put in wherever paths were worn through the grass by people walking. The infrastructure was built to accomodate where people were using it. Similarly, the oldest roads were previously horse paths.
If there is an increase in pedestrian foot traffic, and the infrastructure does not accomodate regular foot traffic patterns, I think it makes a lot of sense to re-examine that system and adjust accordingly.
murfmurphy said:
The crosswalks are there for pedestrians to use, if you need to get across the street in the middle of the block then cross the street before your destination, not at your destination.That only works when the pedestrian is walking longer distances from one place to another. If someone parks a car or exits a bus, they're often closer to a mid-block area than at an intersection.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Cole
Hilltop
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misskitty said:
We should add Hague Avenue to that list. The speed limit being 35 and it’s a big Jaywalking area in defense of the pedestrians there are no crosswalks between West Broad and Sullivant avenue on that stretch of Hague.
I don’t think that much can be done downtown to discourage jaywalking people are in too much of a hurry.A crosswalk is more than painted lines at intersections with traffic lights. A crosswalk is "[t]hat part of a roadway at intersections ordinarily included within the real or projected prolongation of property lines and curb lines or, in the absence of curbs, the edges of the traversable roadway."
In other words, every intersection which does not explicitly forbid pedestrian crossing has/is a crosswalk. So at most intersections in the Short North, the pedestrian should have the right-of-way. On Hague, at every intersection between Sullivant and Broad on Hague the pedestrian should have the right-of-way.
I like Walker's idea of signed crosswalks where alleys once were. I mean, even Columbus Municipal Code states "[n]o pedestrian shall cross a roadway at a place other than a crosswalk except in cases where crosswalks are an unreasonable distance apart." There's conflicting rules within the code, but the blocks around the Statehouse are pretty long. Let's completely legalize the jaywalking with signed crosswalks.
BTW, I'm aware people would still jaywalk with more signed crosswalks, but it's a nice thought that pedestrians would have more legal options for getting to where they need to go.
Posted 3 months ago # -
GCrites80s
5xNW
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Walker said:
Because they don't work. I'm not sure if this is true, or an urban legend, but I recall hearing that the sidewalks through the Oval at OSU were put in wherever paths were worn through the grass by people walking. The infrastructure was built to accomodate where people were using it.Those are called "cowpaths" and they're something that college facilities offices take seriously. They don't like them because they're a symptom of poor traffic flow design and make the school look bad with all that dead grass and mud. A lot of times they end up installing a hard surface for people to utilize.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Snarf
Dystopia
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GCrites80s said:
Those are called "cowpaths" and they're something that college facilities offices take seriously. They don't like them because they're a symptom of poor traffic flow design and make the school look bad with all that dead grass and mud. A lot of times they end up installing a hard surface for people to utilize.My mailman leaves a cowpath in my front yard into the neighbors and then around the corner. I try not to be bothered by it because I think it would suck to be a mailman.
Posted 3 months ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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GCrites80s said:
Those are called "cowpaths" and they're something that college facilities offices take seriously. They don't like them because they're a symptom of poor traffic flow design and make the school look bad with all that dead grass and mud. A lot of times they end up installing a hard surface for people to utilize.I call them pedestrian desire lines.
Posted 3 months ago # -
GCrites80s
5xNW
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The other thing that can happen is that a new building is built on campus and all of a sudden pedestrians start making new shortcuts.
Sounds like if people started wearing loud '80s and early '90s colors such as neon pink and chartreuse that pedestrian safety would increase. Grungers and goths turned out to be even more self-destructive than we thought.
Posted 3 months ago #
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