I hope everyone has enjoyed whatever winter holidays you celebrate, and I hope you've had a chance to get out and about on foot. Here in the Boston area, almost all the snow we got a couple of weekends ago has melted, making walking once again easy and enjoyable.
Did you get any good walking gifts for your holiday of choice? If not, you could consider this extravagant absurdity:
(Click through to the YouTube page for [some profane] the amusing comments, if you're so inclined.)
This thing is hilarious. Tip o' the sneaker to agile reader Mark for pointing this out to me.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Let it snow?
Today, I'm surly.
It was a beautiful, cozy weekend to welcome the official start of winter with a couple of big snowstorms in the Boston area. I really love snow, both being out in it and also being inside and watching it fall while sipping a hot drink and enjoying the sight from the comfort of my living room.
What I don't love, however, is dealing with navigating through the complete mess our sidewalks become once the snow is done falling. If this were my personal blog, this post would be full of obscenities, so please feel free to fill them in wherever seems appropriate as you read.
This morning, I mentally praised my neighbors who have done even a moderate job of clearing the snow from their sidewalks in the last few days. Unfortunately, this was largely overridden by muttering about the people (and businesses!!) who haven't even begun clearing their sidewalks, making the sidewalks effectively impassable for pedestrians on their way to ... well, anywhere, really. This meant that nearly all the pedestrians I saw today were walking on the street, which is narrower than usual, due to piles of snow on either side, meaning cars have less room to maneuver around people on foot. This isn't safe or comfortable for anyone!
Also, the street is slippery, as I learned when I had my foot slide right out from under me, so surely some of my grumbling is due to having taken an unpleasant spill first thing today. Fortunately, the cab that was approaching was going slowly enough that there was no risk of my getting run over while I picked myself up.
Nevertheless, this is a great opportunity to remind everyone that snow clearing is an issue of vital concern to all of us. Please check out our snow/sidewalks page to see what WalkBoston has to say on the issue.
And if you have time, why not take a shovel out to the corner and dig a connection between the sidewalk and the street where the plows have left nearly impassable mountains of slush? If you do this and send me a picture, I'll praise you publicly and buy you a pony! Or a coffee. Whichever you'd prefer.
It was a beautiful, cozy weekend to welcome the official start of winter with a couple of big snowstorms in the Boston area. I really love snow, both being out in it and also being inside and watching it fall while sipping a hot drink and enjoying the sight from the comfort of my living room.
What I don't love, however, is dealing with navigating through the complete mess our sidewalks become once the snow is done falling. If this were my personal blog, this post would be full of obscenities, so please feel free to fill them in wherever seems appropriate as you read.
This morning, I mentally praised my neighbors who have done even a moderate job of clearing the snow from their sidewalks in the last few days. Unfortunately, this was largely overridden by muttering about the people (and businesses!!) who haven't even begun clearing their sidewalks, making the sidewalks effectively impassable for pedestrians on their way to ... well, anywhere, really. This meant that nearly all the pedestrians I saw today were walking on the street, which is narrower than usual, due to piles of snow on either side, meaning cars have less room to maneuver around people on foot. This isn't safe or comfortable for anyone!
Also, the street is slippery, as I learned when I had my foot slide right out from under me, so surely some of my grumbling is due to having taken an unpleasant spill first thing today. Fortunately, the cab that was approaching was going slowly enough that there was no risk of my getting run over while I picked myself up.
Nevertheless, this is a great opportunity to remind everyone that snow clearing is an issue of vital concern to all of us. Please check out our snow/sidewalks page to see what WalkBoston has to say on the issue.
And if you have time, why not take a shovel out to the corner and dig a connection between the sidewalk and the street where the plows have left nearly impassable mountains of slush? If you do this and send me a picture, I'll praise you publicly and buy you a pony! Or a coffee. Whichever you'd prefer.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Extreme crosswalk geekery
I am about to get really crosswalk geeky on you:
There are a lot of different patterns used for crosswalks, all of which are intended to give pedestrians a clear, protected zone in which to cross a street. As I'm sure we've all observed, they can be used at intersections and at mid-block crossings. But what's the deal with all the different designs?
Okay, first, in Massachusetts, the "standard" design (and the one the state pays for when cities want to put in or repaint a crosswalk) is this:
There's one of these near my house, actually, I didn't realize until just a few months ago that this was a crosswalk at all -- I always figured that these were simply lines in intersections to tell cars where to stop, and I found them confusing when located mid-block. They're okay, I guess, but they're not very visible. Also, because they run perpendicular to traffic, they get worn and faded quite quickly. D
Even worse is the dashed style:
This one has all the disadvantages of the standard style, plus it's effectively pre-faded. Maybe the fact that it's dashed makes it more visible? I'm not sure. In any case, I don't like it. D-
Another that I don't see particularly frequently is the solid crosswalk:
This one is certainly more visually arresting than either the standard or the dashed. Sometimes I see these painted yellow, or with white borders and yellow fill. Not bad. It uses a lot of paint (or, more often, these days, thermoplastic), though, which is costly, needs a fair amount of maintenance, and might be slippery for both vehicles and pedestrians. C
The continental style is among the most commonly used in and around Boston, I think:
The stripes are attention-getting, and because they're oriented parallel to vehicular travel, they will be more durable over time. Vehicle tires will, at least some of the time, miss the markings, which should decrease skidding in cases where that material is more slippery than the pavement. Pedestrians also won't have to walk on a solid painted or plastic surface. B+
The ladder style has a lot of the same advantages:
The framing bars that run perpendicular don't, to my mind, add much, except a zone requiring more frequent maintenance. On the other hand, the kids I've worked with for Safe Routes to School liked the imagery of "climbing the ladder" as a reminder for them to stay within the crosswalk zone when crossing streets. And since the consequence of worn framing strips is that the ladder will simply look like a Continental style crosswalk, I suppose that's not a big deal. B
Zebra crosswalks have a certain visual appeal:
The problem, as you probably surmised, is that the angle means more wear over time. B-
So those are the most common crosswalk types I've seen out and about. But this post was actually inspired by a couple of new (to me) crosswalk styles that I think are pretty nifty:
First, there's the piano style:
The big win here is that you still have a very visible crosswalk, but by leaving extra room where most vehicle tires will wear, you cut down on any potential skidding and maintenance costs due to the markings getting worn down. Nice. A
In a different vein, you get the double ladder:
Instead of reducing skidding for vehicles, this one leaves an unmarked zones where pedestrians can walk and reduce potential slippage for them. What's not to like? A
Finally, putting those two good ideas together, there's the double piano:
It's visible. It experiences reduced wear and tear. It minimizes potential slipping and skidding for vehicles and pedestrians. This is a great crosswalk. A+
There are a lot of different patterns used for crosswalks, all of which are intended to give pedestrians a clear, protected zone in which to cross a street. As I'm sure we've all observed, they can be used at intersections and at mid-block crossings. But what's the deal with all the different designs?
Okay, first, in Massachusetts, the "standard" design (and the one the state pays for when cities want to put in or repaint a crosswalk) is this:
There's one of these near my house, actually, I didn't realize until just a few months ago that this was a crosswalk at all -- I always figured that these were simply lines in intersections to tell cars where to stop, and I found them confusing when located mid-block. They're okay, I guess, but they're not very visible. Also, because they run perpendicular to traffic, they get worn and faded quite quickly. D
Even worse is the dashed style:
This one has all the disadvantages of the standard style, plus it's effectively pre-faded. Maybe the fact that it's dashed makes it more visible? I'm not sure. In any case, I don't like it. D-
Another that I don't see particularly frequently is the solid crosswalk:
This one is certainly more visually arresting than either the standard or the dashed. Sometimes I see these painted yellow, or with white borders and yellow fill. Not bad. It uses a lot of paint (or, more often, these days, thermoplastic), though, which is costly, needs a fair amount of maintenance, and might be slippery for both vehicles and pedestrians. C
The continental style is among the most commonly used in and around Boston, I think:
The stripes are attention-getting, and because they're oriented parallel to vehicular travel, they will be more durable over time. Vehicle tires will, at least some of the time, miss the markings, which should decrease skidding in cases where that material is more slippery than the pavement. Pedestrians also won't have to walk on a solid painted or plastic surface. B+
The ladder style has a lot of the same advantages:
The framing bars that run perpendicular don't, to my mind, add much, except a zone requiring more frequent maintenance. On the other hand, the kids I've worked with for Safe Routes to School liked the imagery of "climbing the ladder" as a reminder for them to stay within the crosswalk zone when crossing streets. And since the consequence of worn framing strips is that the ladder will simply look like a Continental style crosswalk, I suppose that's not a big deal. B
Zebra crosswalks have a certain visual appeal:
The problem, as you probably surmised, is that the angle means more wear over time. B-
So those are the most common crosswalk types I've seen out and about. But this post was actually inspired by a couple of new (to me) crosswalk styles that I think are pretty nifty:
First, there's the piano style:
The big win here is that you still have a very visible crosswalk, but by leaving extra room where most vehicle tires will wear, you cut down on any potential skidding and maintenance costs due to the markings getting worn down. Nice. A
In a different vein, you get the double ladder:
Instead of reducing skidding for vehicles, this one leaves an unmarked zones where pedestrians can walk and reduce potential slippage for them. What's not to like? A
Finally, putting those two good ideas together, there's the double piano:
It's visible. It experiences reduced wear and tear. It minimizes potential slipping and skidding for vehicles and pedestrians. This is a great crosswalk. A+
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Hey, I'm in the news!
Well, okay, mostly it's walking that's in the news in Hub workers: These routes are made for walking in the Boston Herald over the weekend. Though the photo isn't in the online version, there paper includes a picture of me and WalkBoston's Bob Sloane leading a group of Greenbuild conference attendees to an off-site session led by Wendy Landman and Doug Farr the week before Thanksgiving.
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