I have thought more about it, and I am once again putting in a request to the city for a marked crosswalk across Atwood Avenue at the Garrison/WelchSt. intersection. http://goo.gl/maps/YPXxK
I have made 2 prior requests for this improvement. The first was an informal suggestion to the SASYNA list serve back when the Fair Oaks intersection was being designed. The second was in a formal email to the city in October 2012. I have gotten responses from city engineers stating that because of the number of traffic lanes that this is not a safe place for children to cross, and pointing out that there are no existing curb cuts on Atwood Avenue for a crosswalk. I don't think that these are good enough reasons to maintain an unsafe pedestrian and bicycle crossing at this intersection. Here are some of the reasons that I think we need a painted crosswalk at the Atwood Ave at Garrison St./Welch St. intersection - Despite unsafe crossing conditions, this intersection is already used as a crossing for pedestrians and cyclists - This Atwood Ave. crossing is a natural direct route for peds and bikes to access the curb ramp entrance of the Capital City Trail at Garrison/Emmet street. http://goo.gl/maps/28VtL - There is a bus stop at this intersection, and people getting on and off of the bus need to be able to cross the street safely. - Lowell Elementary school is 3 blocks away - There are private residences on all 4 corners of this intersection. - The closest marked crosswalks are at least 2 blocks in either direction It is my understanding that because there are sidewalks on both sides of Garrison Street and Welch Street at this intersection that the WI state statute defines this intersection as an "unmarked" crosswalk. Therefore, pedestrians theoretically already have the legal right of way when crossing the street here. To fail to make it obvious to cars that this is a legal crossing for bicycles and pedestrians is dangerous for all road users. A legitimate concern at this intersection is that cars traveling in the southeast direction will be rear ended when stopping for pedestrians in the crosswalk because of their lack of visibility from behind and the excessive speed of auto traffic when traveling in this direction. It isn't right to put the burden on pedestrians to either wait until traffic clears (this can take up to several minutes during busy periods) or to dart out in front of *speeding* traffic and hope that the cars stop. It makes more sense to introduce any necessary traffic calming measures and consistent enforcement so that road traffic travels at the marked speed limit, making it safe for cars to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk and therefore safe for peds and bikes to cross at this intersection. See definition of unmarked crosswalk 340.01(10) <https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:auI90JFEAP8J:www.dot.wisconsin .gov/safety/motorist/pedestrians/docs/pedlaws.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid =ADGEESjA6NzCcr_Kuwcs1b2FeSb_aDxL5nNpH4S65AWltHjELVj0WkKRJMZCpC9XWp0hZFwIxrAfDsYlo-UrskRap8t611qWeIseeyYOLAxjEQWs OWxxsPMThX-Otmw32F_gMiwJEVv1&sig=AHIEtbRlQB7Ai8updFfTRjSRdR2Xjnm0KQ> Thanks. India Viola, Lindbergh St. -- WeAreAllMechanics.com [email protected] Stay connected- Follow WAAM on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/We.Are.All.Mechanics>
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