Mark Anderson writes:
But creating even more frustration to driving will not
contribute to safety -- the slightly fewer
cars will be more than offset by more accidents
because of people trying to get around the "calming"
features, and their diversions to side streets.
(JC) The problem with this rhetoric is that is focuses
exclusively on the needs of drivers. A more wholistic
approach considers the pedestrian first, since the act
of walking as transportation contributes positively to
the urban environment whereas each automobile trip
does the opposite. Therefore, each automobile on the
road "frustrates" the pedestrian by spewing out toxic
fumes and threatening her safety.
Can anyone confirm the assertion that traffic calming
increases accidents and directs traffic to side
streets? Those assertions seem speculative at best.
Even if true, the benefits of traffic calming in terms
of bettering the street scape, creating space for more
trees and greenery, encouraging business investment
and validating walking as a viable mode of
transportation all offset any slight detriment to the
"driving experience."
Traffic calming is just one cipher of the phenomenon
sweeping Minneapolis of reclaiming the city from the
flawed automobile design and function which have
reigned since the times of urban renewal.
By itself, traffic calming would do little to change
transportation behavior, but it is powerful when
paired with the positive changes in the sector five
transit plan, the extension of the Midtown Greenway to
Hiawatha, light rail, infill housing, and the
elimination of minimum parking requirements.
Car culture is a dinosaur of last century. Cars have
devastated our cities with smog, congestion and ugly
drive-through plastic architecture. Our reliance on
fossil fuels has brought us to the brink of war, for
the second time in a decade.
When you ride alone, you ride with Saddam - and Osama
Bin Laden.
Jeff Carlson, Whittier
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