----- Original Message ----- From: "ken avidor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>
>It assumes that pedestrians like to walk past long stretches of empty > "green space" Did they bother to ask the pedestrians there now why they > walk on Lake Street?...if they did they would learn that they walk to > get somewhere..to work and to shop... So true, It's probably the main reason New Yorkers walk so much. If they were pedestrians, they > would realize that the sort of "green space" they depict in their plans > and models will for most of the year not be green, but cold, barren > windswept areas.... > If the planners of this project were pedestrians they would see how > awful it would be to cross a widened Lake Street...the medians only add > insult to injury. Imagine standing on a median in winter, the noise and > pollution, the slush splashed by cars on all sides...waiting...now > imagine you are crossing with small children....carrying bags of > groceries...or that you are blind or in a wheel chair... > For reference, on the summer day when, unencumbered by packages, I clocked it, it took me about 55 minutes to walk from Lunds on Lake Street to City Hall, without crossing against any light, but it took more than six of those minutes to cross Hennepin Avenue (legally) at the Walker because of traffic lights that are designed for cars, rather than pedestrians. If one doesn't want to walk against the light, there is a wait for each and every light across Hennepin at that multi-lane intersection. (The bridge is an alternative, but it's even colder, windier in winter, and no shorter -- especially if you're trying to get from the Walker to St. Mark's -- but at least it isn't as frustrating as missing each one of those confounded %$##@! lights.) Presumably this would be true for any median on Lake Street. Waiting six minutes at a/multiple median/s within a large expanse like an 8-lane street would be so cold and windy as to make some pedestrians look for an alternate route. N.S. Gill About Guide to Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN http://minneapolis.about.com/ About Guide to Ancient/Classical History http://ancienthistory.about.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
