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| I know the average person who walks is thinner...but this seems a tad ridiculous! |
What do you notice in this picture? That's right a fancy, beautiful, smooth, First St. Completely closed off by the nice construction crew so that I can weave through the cones like a six year old on a brand new huffy! Ahhh, I forgot for a second it wasn't just for me. I've been pretending it was for about the last month or so, since most of it has been closed off to vehicles and set up as a slalom course that changed daily! I mean who else besides bicycles would that be designed for!?
Ok, that's one perspective. What caused me to halt my slalom run was the sidewalk configuration.
While this picture isn't entirely fair (the Fed Ex and UPS boxes are usually a bit further down the sidewalk). A pedestrian must (by design or lack there of) step into a narrow lane of oncoming traffic to continue on his or her merry way. It wouldn't be necessary except for the fact the road has already been widened to accommodate more vehicles (e.g. the telephone pole wasn't always in the middle of the sidewalk).
Anyway, I thought I'd get a quick stab in for Pedestrian rights, before I continued my morning slalom run. If you haven't been out on the new street, make sure you visit before the open it to vehicle traffic....it's a hoot.
Never mind a pedestrian...where's a person in a wheelchair supposed to go? They're really the forgotten group. Their numbers aren't many, but when something like this happens it affects them so much more. It's not so easy for them to get around an obstacle like this one.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point. ADA folks would have a field day with this one! In all seriousness, I do bring these types of things up at the RTC meetings, so hopefully local construction projects will be improved on in the future!
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