Mark Anderson of Bancroft writes: "Arrrgh! More kudos for the wonders of traffic calming. I've never seen any traffic calming that improved safety city-wide."
(JC) Traffic calming does improve safety city-wide by making the city safer, one street at a time. I can testify as a bicyclist on Franklin that traffic calming has made a huge difference there. (Mark) "When you cut out lanes on a street, the traffic merely moves somewhere else. Then you've got someone on another street complaining about all the cars." (JC) Good traffic calming reorganizes the lanes to make travel safer for bikes and pedestrians. A well-designed street will not make motorists choose another route, but will encourage them to slow down and drive safely. (Mark) "The safest plan is to allow traffic to move as quickly as possible on the major streets, and spend the money on keeping pedestrians and cars separated (maybe put up fences?)." (JC) On the contrary, the most dangerous streets in the city are the ones that allow cars to fly through neighborhoods. A few examples are Blaisdell, First Ave, 28th St. and 26th St. All of these are one-ways designed exclusively to "move traffic quickly" and are extremely dangerous for that reason. Accidents on Blaisdell through Whittier are quotidian, as evidenced by the regular reappearance of glass shards on the pavement at nearly every intersection. As for fences to separate bicycles and pedestrians from cars, I'm not sure that is a practical solution, though I'd be happy to hear you elaborate on your idea. (Mark) That'll keep a lot of the traffic off the more residential side streets. And allow bicycles a safer ride on those side streets also. (JC) You argue that traffic calming on major streets will move traffic onto residential streets. This is not true for one reason. Traffic calmed commercial corridors are still the better choice for longer distances because residential streets are very narrow with bump outs, speed bumps, and stop signs. Indeed they are traffic calmed in a different way. Calming traffic is important on residential streets to ensure that only local traffic use them. On commercial streets it is a tool to discourage driving and promote walking, biking and transit. Great cities encourage lively street life through density of structure, safe pedestrian promenades, and plenty of services within easy walking distance. The automobile is the antithesis of great city planning. Traffic calming is one measure to offset the negative impact of automobiles on our urban environment. To speak out against it is to speak out against the city itself. Jeff Carlson, Whittier __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.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
