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They removed the crosswalks because they were converting the intersection to a roundabout. You can see in the third photo that there's a circle painted in the m
by jonas21 4y ago
They removed the crosswalks because they were converting the intersection to a roundabout. You can see in the third photo that there's a circle painted in the middle of the intersection. This had apparently been planned long before the crosswalk was added.
Roundabouts generally make streets safer for pedestrians as they slow the flow of traffic. However, when you add a roundabout, you need to displace the crosswalks a few feet away from the intersection because otherwise the crosswalk leads pedestrians directly into the path of traffic.
Here is what the intersection looks like now:
https://twitter.com/RyFons/status/1527776660187119616/photo/1 https://twitter.com/RyFons/status/1527776660187119616/photo/...
It would be nice if Step 1 of the how-to guide was to check with the city to see what it's plans are first. But I guess that wouldn't be as cool.
- majormajor 4y agoAre they going to add any crosswalks back? Where else would it go based on where the curb cuts are?
- mjmahone17 4y agoThe logical thing in this case seems to be to make the crosswalks an X pattern: have them go right through the roundabout. Could probably add a mid-block crosswalk for crossing to the other side. I doubt that’s what will be done, but it seems like that could work.
- Rebelgecko 4y agoCan you really call it a roundabout if they left the stop signs?
- throwaway0a5e 4y agoSome bureaucrat probably decided that too large a proportion of people wouldn't understand that you're supposed to yield to the traffic in the roundabout (and that a yield sign would somehow be insufficient) hence the creation of a "dual purpose roundabout and fishing stop pretext/revenue generator".
- ScottBatson 4y agoNope. That would be a traffic circle.
- ghaff 4y ago>Roundabouts generally make streets safer for pedestrians as they slow the flow of traffic. I wonder--if it's a busy roundabout. There's a lot going on and drivers are looking at traffic in the roundabout and in the upcoming entrance to the roundabout and mentally calculating if it's safe to merge in. At one particularly busy pair of local roundabouts (aka "the twin doughnuts of death") there's actually been a pedestrian/cyclist stop light installed because otherwise you'd be taking your life in your hands to get across the road.
- atchoo 4y ago> Roundabouts generally make streets safer for pedestrians as they slow the flow of traffic They may be safer and reduce top speed when traffic is low but otherwise improve flow so that pedestrians have less opportunity to cross. It's normal to have pedestrian crossings at our plentiful roundabouts in the UK. If they are particularly busy or multi-lane, they will also have traffic lights to stop traffic just for the pedestrian's benefit.
- megablast 4y ago> Roundabouts generally make streets safer for pedestrians as they slow the flow of traffic This is rubbish. Roundabouts are a lot harder to cross, and more unsafe.