Jackson Rd. Meeting tonight!

[Erica Briggs]

Please show-up or send a note in support of this project! Thanks!

 MDOT Public Meeting: Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, 5 - 7 p.m. at Slauson Middle 

School, 1019 W. Washington Ave., Ann Arbor--
WBWC message: Bikers and walkers need to show up and express their support for
the improvements being considered for bikers and walkers in both projects.
Remember these meetings are generally very poorly attended, so your voice is
critical. The 4-3 lane conversion is bound to bring out some naysayers, so
please be there to remind MDOT that the addition of bike lanes is valued. It not
only benefits cyclists, but it also calms traffic and provides a safer traveling
environment for everyone!
 
Info from MDOT: Public information meeting to discuss improvements on I-94
Business
Loop (BL) between I-94 and Main Street in Ann Arbor scheduled for
2013. Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials will
present plans for a possible four lane-to-three lane conversion of I-94 BL
(Jackson Street) between Dexter Avenue and Maple Street. MDOT will
make a brief presentation at the beginning of the meeting on the lane
conversion proposal before taking comments from the public.
CONTACT: Kari Arend, MDOT Office of Communications, 517-750-0406
are...@michigan.gov Special accommodations: 810-227-4681
www.michigan.gov/drive | www.twitter.com/MichiganDOT |
www.facebook.com/MichiganDOT
 

[Eric Boyd]

Is this Wednesday or Thursday night? (Subject says "tonight". Meeting notice says Thursday night.)

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I

[Cooper, Eli]

Thursday!

[Eric Boyd]

You can now see if any MDOT projects affect your region through this map-based interface:

http://mdotnetpublic.state.mi.us/fyp/default.aspx

--Eric

On 2/15/12 1:54 PM, Erica Briggs wrote:

--

[Linda Diane Feldt]

I'd like to hear more discussion of this.

My primary thought is that narrowing Huron would send more traffic to Miller, Dexter, Liberty, and Washington.

Which would make those streets less safe. And they are heavily used by pedestrians and bicyclists. 

This is a major artery. And a lot of speeders. Can we hear more information about what is planned and the benefits and costs? 

What is the larger picture? 

I know Huron/Jackson isn't used because it is so unsafe. 

But making it harder and slower to navigate by car - does that also increase road rage and people doing stupid things? That's my first response.

Help me out here.

Linda Diane Feldt

Holistic Health Practitioner

Three new books! www.writing.lindadianefeldt.com

twitter.com/wildcrafting

On Feb 15, 2012, at 1:54 PM, Erica Briggs wrote:

Please show-up or send a note in support of this project! Thanks!

 MDOT Public Meeting: Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, 5 - 7 p.m. at Slauson Middle 

School, 1019 W. Washington Ave., Ann Arbor--
WBWC message: Bikers and walkers need to show up and express their support for
the improvements being considered for bikers and walkers in both projects.
Remember these meetings are generally very poorly attended, so your voice is
critical. The 4-3 lane conversion is bound to bring out some naysayers, so
please be there to remind MDOT that the addition of bike lanes is valued. It not
only benefits cyclists, but it also calms traffic and provides a safer traveling
environment for everyone!
 

snipped

[Paul Alman]

My take on this, Linda, is that on those roads where a similar change has taken place, through traffic actually is enhanced.  I look at this not so much as a "narrowing" of Huron, but as a "traffic flow enhancement".   Allowing through traffic to flow while left turning traffic has the center lane, smooths out flow.  Now, a caveat, most of the area roads where this has taken place (Platt south of Packard, Ford Blvd in Ypsi) have a lower traffic flow, most of the time. 

 From a cycling standpoint, the major problem with riding on Huron from Maple, is the condition of the roadway.  I commuted along here for a year in the mid-80s and had zero problems with traffic or other road users.  Now however, the road is in such horrible condition, it is almost impossible to ride safely.  Taking a full lane is about the only safe alternative today; the proposed changes will greatly enhance cycling safety, without, IMO having a serious negative impact on motor traffic.  Bus stops of course, will continue to be a concern.

Just my take.

Paul

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Paul Alman

pda...@att.net

734-775-1156

[Phillip Farber]

Paul, I have to take your statement with a grain of salt. 

I agree a striped bike lane that delineates modes is a safety improvement.  Unfortunately, the bike lane is frequently in the worst condition due to debris and degeneration.

 But /because/ the road is in such terrible condition and because many drivers do not understand the danger to cyclists posed by a road surface in terrible condition, drivers will expect cyclists to remain in the bike lane regardless of condition with predictable conflict.

This situation is a mixed bag IMO. 

As a cyclist, I have an increasing beef with the City's inability to maintain decent road surfaces.  For car drivers the road conditions amount to a bumpy ride.  For cyclists, these conditions amount to life threatening experiences especially for novice cyclists who are precisely those we need to encourage in order to increase mode share.

We can all imagine the choice between riding through a wheel-swallowing pothole or changing your line and entering a high speed lane of cars to avoid the hole.

On 02/16/2012 11:46 AM, Paul Alman wrote:

 Now however, the road is in such horrible condition, it is almost impossible to ride safely.  Taking a full lane is about the only safe alternative today; the proposed changes will greatly enhance cycling safety,

--

[Paul Alman]

No disagreement at all Phil.  I tend to think of my own riding experience, forgetting that when there is a marked bike lane or separate facility, novice or inexperienced riders will often assume it is perfectly safe to use them.  This is of course, normally, not the case, for exactly the reasons you cite.  

I would hope (how silly of me) that the City would understand that by designating a specific part of the road for bicyclists, they have an increased responsibility for assuring that this portion of the road is safe for all cyclists.  Perhaps we could get the City to designate someone in the Planning/Streets Department, to actually ride these paths/lanes on a regular basis to confirm they are in rideable condition.  Or perhaps, someone like Eli could ask you, me or any member of the WBWC to "volunteer" to do this, file regular reports, that WOULD BE ACTED UPON, for the price of a cup of coffee or something.  (I realize this is wishful thinking and opens up all sorts of legal ramifications, but...)

P.

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Paul Alman

pda...@att.net

734-775-1156

[Phillip Farber]

Well actually one can call the 99-HOLES hotline to report these conditions.  My experience is that the City is fairly responsive to these calls.

Unfortunately, one could spend several hours of one's day reporting these conditions. 

But while I'm at it, I'll observe that the patches the crews apply tend to be dome-shaped with the expectation that automobile traffic will flatten them to bring them into level with the surrounding pavement.  Note to City: this does NOT occur in the bike lanes.  That means that the hole is replaced by a bump significant enough, again, to cause cyclists a problem.

When I was growing up in Flint, I recall seeing crews use a tool that consisted of a heavy flat hammerhead attached to a long handle that was used to pound the dome-shaped patch level with the surrounding pavement.  Does this tool no longer exist? Or would it take too much crew time to give these patches a couple of whacks?

--

[Dave Askins]

> consisted of a heavy flat hammerhead attached to a long handle that was used
> to pound the dome-shaped patch level with the surrounding pavement.  Does
> this tool no longer exist?

I have one. See attached photo.

--
Dave Askins
Editor, The Ann Arbor Chronicle
734.645.2633
www.annarborchronicle.com
Member of the Michigan Press Association

[Phillip Farber]

HD, Are you now the official City of Ann Arbor patch leveler? If not, who is? If no one, then color me disappointed.

[Cooper, Eli]

Conditions of bike lanes and their pavements is an issue that comes up from time to time.   The city maintains  several  mechanisms to have bike lane issues reported.  The first is the online Citizen Request System accessed via the City’s web site.  The URL for the citizen request system is:  http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/customerservice/Pages/OnlineCustomerServiceRequest.aspx

Although the pull down menu does not include an item for bike lane issues, if you select “pothole” on the pull down menu and provide details in the space provided,  your request will be received by the appropriate staff.  Another way is to report issues is to call the pot hole hotline at 734.99holes.  You will access a voicemail box where you can leave information about the issue.   That voicemail box is checked daily.  Another mechanism is to send me an email or call me.   I am happy to serve the cycling community by reporting these issues to the proper  folks to address.  You wouldn’t want me out there fixing pavements, trust me.     

 

As to the general condition of bicyclist’s needs versus automobile needs, we are well  aware of the differences.   Two years ago, city forces actually milled and repaved significant portions of the bike lane system during our street resurfacing program activities. This was based on our sensitivity to the cycling community.   The edges of many streets, where cyclists travel, are out of the wheel path of cars and therefore are not the most important criteria for our general street resurfacing program.   Given our interest in maintaining our bike lane system, we took the special measures to address these areas.   If there are again  areas that need that type of pavement reconditioning, please let me know.   Staff stands ready to make the improvements needed.

 

As to having a more systematic process, if the WBWC wants to schedule a ride around with me, as I have done that in the past, or just conduct your own analysis and share it with staff, that is welcomed as well.

 

I have been with the City for long enough to realize this issue continues to come up, but we are doing as much as we can – and in my opinion are doing a decent job at providing a good bike lane system.  Good, not perfect.  For more details about our annual review  we post the results of our, staff’s,  annual inspection on the city’s website, the URL for our bicycling page is:       http://www.a2gov.org/GOVERNMENT/PUBLICSERVICES/SYSTEMS_PLANNING/TRANSPORTATION/Pages/Bike.aspx  The 2010 inventory is posted there.  I hope to have the 2011 report compiled and posted shortly.

 

Respectfully provided,

 

Eli Cooper, AICP

Transportation Program Manager

City of Ann Arbor

734.794.6430 ext 43710

eco...@a2gov.org

 

 

 

From: wb...@googlegroups.com [mailto:wb...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul Alman
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:54 PM
To: wb...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [WBWC] Jackson Rd. Meeting tonight!

 

No disagreement at all Phil.  I tend to think of my own riding experience, forgetting that when there is a marked bike lane or separate facility, novice or inexperienced riders will often assume it is perfectly safe to use them.  This is of course, normally, not the case, for exactly the reasons you cite.  

[Linda Diane Feldt]

Thanks Paul.

I agree with traffic calming, I agree with lane narrowing. The examples I can think of didn't have quieter parallel streets as Jackson and Huron do, and so much of the traffic is truly THROUGH traffic, rushing over the speed limit for downtown. I think the nature of the traffic on Jackson and Huron is very different. Has that been considered as part of the study?

As we have all experiences, I think, perception holds more weight than reality with drivers. I don't know what to do with that other than as much education as possible. If this goes through, it will be a hard sell to convince drivers they can speed more efficiently in one lane than in two. And they will blame the bicyclists and pedestrians. I really am of the mindset to give up on Jackson/Huron/Washtenaw - from beginning to end -  for both bicyclists and pedestrians and demand (politely of course) presence and acceptance on every other road in Ann Arbor. 

When we moved back to Ann Arbor in 1972, we lived just west of the Maple/Jackson intersection and so had to travel through there for almost everything. It is now 40 years later, that road and the intersection remains terrifying to me on foot or bike. When I worked at that corner, living closer to downtown, I walked or biked up Washington, cut through on Charleton, and always avoided Jackson. 

I think the proposal will radically change the entire west side of Ann Arbor. It would be essential to have broad participation and buy-in from as many people as possible. Those who live there and the many who just pass through. That is a challenge. I haven't made up my mind either way, I just very much hope for a very good positive decision making process.

Linda Diane Feldt

Holistic Health Practitioner

Three new books!  www.writing.lindadianefeldt.com

twitter.com/wildcrafting

734-662-4902

[Eric Boyd]

Greetings,

I attended most of the meeting and spoke as did many others. I estimated
there were about 40 people there.

The plan, assuming it stays unchanged, is to repave from 1rst to Webers,
and do a road diet on the stretch from Jackson to Dexter. They are only
considering a road diet on this section, because that's the only section
with a traffic count under 20,000. The actual traffic count is 15,500.
They don't need a public meeting for under 15,000. They do need a public
meeting for 15,000 to 20,000. They can't do a road diet over 20,000.

The roadway width is 40 feet. Currently they have that split up into 4
10-foot lanes. The plan is a 4-foot bike lane, 11 foot driving lane, 10
foot turn lane, 11 foot bike lane, 4-foot bike lane. In response to a
question about the bike lane being to narrow, they pointed out that they
would pave up to the curb and there would be no gutter, so it would
effectively be wider biking area than most bike lanes.

Suggestions brought up that they didn't appear to have considered:

1) Pedestrian islands. (This seems unlikely for now as they want to be
able to repaint to 4 lanes if it doesn't work.)
2) Permeable pavement. (This was a great, well researched comment by the
gentleman who made this point.)
3) Fixing the sidewalk issue on the north side of Jackson under 94.
(This seemed unlikely as they made a point about bridge piers and there
no being room. I think the city should really push them on this and see
if it's possible.)
4) Fixing the missing chunk of bike lane north of Webers.
5) If the road diet between Maple and Dexter slightly reduces traffic on
Huron between Dexter and 1st, could they also consider a road diet in
that stretch?

It wasn't clear if they would really consider these or not.

General tenor of the presentation:

1) Road diets work and don't cause significant congestion.
2) Crashes go down.

Supplementary comments from county and city officials
1) Road diets have worked out really well elsewhere. A lot of the
immediate concern goes away after skeptical people living on the street
see the result.

Problems with the presentation.
1) They kept talking about video in a way that suggested they had
actually put a camera out on the street. They eventually cleared this
up. They did traffic counts and modeled a video.
2) The video they did show was confusing in that it appeared to show
green traffic islands when actually that would just be the center lane
for an area with driveways, but no cross streets. They should fix the
software.

General tenor of the support:
1) Bikes have a right to use the road. This will help get bikes off the
sidewalks and onto the road for folks who are not comfortable taking the
lane, but are comfortable with bike lanes. (This was me.)
2) Drivers are crazy on this stretch, because it looks like a highway.
Road diets calm traffic and work.
3) The road is in terrible shape.
4) Road diets and bike lanes will improve the pedestrian experience.
5) It's not safe for kids to play in their front yard today.

General tenor of the concern:
1) I live on Jackson. I can see the backups are already worse then you
are modeling.
2) If the backups are worse, I'll never be able to back out of my driveway.
3) If the backups are worse, people will race through residential cut
streets and traffic will increase on Liberty / Dexter / Miller.
4) All the other road diets given as examples weren't on major truck
routes. I'm worried the number of trucks will make this proposal behave
differently.
5) There's a firestation and lots of ambulances. How will this work? (I
think this one was effectively addressed as a non-concern.)

General tenor of the opposition:
1) This is a truck route, a busy road, and lots of exhaust. Bikes should
use other roads and stay off this one.
2) Pedestrians should walk to the crosswalk at Maple and don't need
special accommodations like pedestrian islands. (I'm not sure if this
one was said publicly or just muttered. It was in response to comments
about kids from Slauson crossing Huron at non-crosswalk locations and to
get to the Vets pool.

Hopefully that characterizes the meeting accurately. Please weigh in if
you attended and have additions or corrections.

My suggestions to the city:

1) The city should push MDOT harder on fixing bike/ped access between
Maple and Webers and/or do some complementary projects at the same time.
2) The city should push MDOT harder on having a fixed timeframe for when
ped islands (such as one at the Vets pool, and one near Slausin) will be
evaluated. (2 years after completion?)
3) The city should push MDOT harder on having a fixed timeframe to
re-look at traffic counts between Dexter and 1rst and see if a road diet
(paint only) in that stretch is legal. (2 years after completion?)
4) The city should decide if we as a city are serious about permeable
pavement as a major tool in how we built major streets. If it's a good
idea, why not do it here? (I have no personal idea whether it is a good
idea or not, but the comment from the audience was very compelling.)

--Eric

[Vivienne Armentrout]

Thanks for this very lucid summary. I assume that in the second
sentence you meant "Maple to Dexter", as you stated elsewhere.

[Eric Boyd]

On 2/17/12 10:49 AM, Vivienne Armentrout wrote:
> Thanks for this very lucid summary. I assume that in the second
> sentence you meant "Maple to Dexter", as you stated elsewhere.

Yes. I noticed my mistake right after I sent.

Meant to say "green traffic-free islands".

My intuition is that if this road diet slightly reduces traffic, it
might actually reduce the Dexter to 1rst stretch enough to quality for a
road diet there as well.

[Linda Diane Feldt]

Great information on the meeting, which I was unable to attend at the last minute.

This type of info would be invaluable if it was more widely distributed. It give so much more background than sound bites and encouragement to see this as polarizing - bikes against cars. 

There is a comprehensive plan that considers all users.

Many years ago (10 or 15?) the neighborhood was organized around a very similar idea, and it seemed to be coordinated partly through the Party Center. There are new owners now, I don't know how much of a neighborhood center that still is. But still a place to get info out. 

Has there been any study of how this would impact Dexter, Washington, Miller and Liberty? It sounds like someone expects they would take up slack, if in two years numbers of cars are expected to decrease in the other section. Would I be correct in saying expecting around 6,000 fewer cars for that part of Huron end up on Miller, Washington and Liberty, equals about 2,000 each, at least 3/4 are daytime use, 1,500 over 12 hours is over 100 more cars per hour about two a minute. That is a rather large increase even with my back-of-the-napkin math. In reality, Miller and Liberty would absorb more as Washington is such a more difficult street to drive with all the Y traffic.

Anyone of these E-W streets malfunctioning causes observable changes in traffic on the remaining streets now. They are very tightly dependent.

Thanks so much, Eric.

Linda Diane Feldt

Holistic Health Practitioner

Three new books!  www.writing.lindadianefeldt.com

twitter.com/wildcrafting

734-662-4902

[Eric Boyd]

MDOT made no implication about traffic shifting. My engineer's intuition (this is basically fluid dynamics) is that it should shift very slightly, but that's just a guess and not a very knowledgeable one.

[Vivienne Armentrout]

This is all speculation, but I think the only impact on the other
streets would be during rush hour (fluid dynamics again). This is my
side of town and I already cut down to Liberty via Seventh if I am going
to any of the businesses near Liberty or south/east of the
Liberty-Stadium intersection. The big inhibition is that awful
Jackson-Maple intersection. I'll bet a lot of other people take Miller,
Dexter or Liberty only when their itinerary takes them that way. For
example, in order to access the Maple Village shopping center, it makes
much more sense to use either Dexter or Miller (avoiding that awful
intersection again).

Washington does not go all the way to Stadium so is not all that useful
as a bypass.

When I do take Jackson, the inhibition is the traffic that is too fast
and too impatient. I frequently get tailgated or inappropriately passed
(on the right, etc.) when I am going at speed limit or a couple of miles
faster. Some people seem to have a sense of entitlement to go much
faster than the posted speed. Another problem when driving in the
left-hand lane is the really fast traffic coming the other direction and
actually straying over the line at times. A third lane in the middle
would be a welcome relief from that.

On 2/17/2012 11:32 AM, Eric Boyd wrote:
>
> MDOT made no implication about traffic shifting. My engineer's
> intuition (this is basically fluid dynamics) is that it should shift
> very slightly, but that's just a guess and not a very knowledgeable one.
>
> On Feb 17, 2012 11:27 AM, "Linda Diane Feldt"

> <http://www.writing.lindadianefeldt.com>
> twitter.com/wildcrafting <http://twitter.com/wildcrafting>
> 734-662-4902 <tel:734-662-4902>

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[Ken Freeman]

This comment is undoubtedly belated, but I think the recent road work on Liberty illustrates what may happen.  Traffic may well spill over to Liberty from Jackson/Huron, but from there it spills to Jefferson.  Jefferson is a residential street with a public school on it, and it is the foot access to Bach school for the primary grades and to Slauson MS for the intermediate grades.  The crossings of 7th at Jefferson are ambiguous at best, and would be additionally hazardous if stressed by hurried rush-hour traffic.  Football Saturdays are a good illustration, as are the recent Liberty Detour days.  

In the mornings we have dozens of adults and children passing our Jefferson house on the sidewalk (and amazingly some people find reasons to walk down the middle of the street instead of on the sidewalk!!), many cyclists regularly, and of course local cars accessing the Madison, 7th and Liberty arterials as well as short-cutters.  Adding traffic stress to these streets cannot be seen as any kind of safety relief on the West Side.

I think the impact of reducing road capacity on Jackson/Huron needs to be reviewed in light of these considerations, and the residential component of all the streets that may be impacted.

I am very in favor of improving pedestrian crossings on Jackson/Huron, completing the bike lanes so access is clearly deliniated from Stadium west past Weber's, restoring/maintaining pavement edges and curbs, and even some bike lane marking.  But I think eliminating an entire lane of traffic in each direction is not going to be a net safety improvement for the whole area.

Is Jackson/Huron really required to be a bike corridor?  Or can perhaps alternative east/west corridors be improved, even if they will be less direct?  And if Washington and Jefferson Streets are to be those corridors, don't take measures that shift additional motor vehicle load onto them.

On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 11:53 AM, Vivienne Armentrout <vnarme...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

This is all speculation, but I think the only impact on the other streets would be during rush hour (fluid dynamics again).  This is my side of town and I already cut down to Liberty via Seventh if I am going to any of the businesses near Liberty or south/east of the Liberty-Stadium intersection.  The big inhibition is that awful Jackson-Maple intersection.  I'll bet a lot of other people take Miller, Dexter or Liberty only when their itinerary takes them that way.  For example, in order to access the Maple Village shopping center, it makes much more sense to use either Dexter or Miller (avoiding that awful intersection again).

Washington does not go all the way to Stadium so is not all that useful as a bypass.

When I do take Jackson, the inhibition is the traffic that is too fast and too impatient.  I frequently get tailgated or inappropriately passed (on the right, etc.) when I am going at speed limit or a couple of miles faster.  Some people seem to have a sense of entitlement to go much faster than the posted speed.  Another problem when driving in the left-hand lane is the really fast traffic coming the other direction and actually straying over the line at times.  A third lane in the middle would be a welcome relief from that.

On 2/17/2012 11:32 AM, Eric Boyd wrote:

MDOT made no implication about traffic shifting. My engineer's intuition (this is basically fluid dynamics) is that it should shift very slightly, but that's just a guess and not a very knowledgeable one.

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[Tim Athan]

I've been meaning to respond to this interesting post, for an embarrassingly long time...

Not that I am resolved in my mind about this issue.

My understanding:  Back in "mid-century" the notion was to have fast highway arteries that would enable swift automobile transit.  Streets were made one-way to encourage easy flow.  Meanwhile, suburbs were designed to be tranquil, with vehicle pass-through discouraged by cul-de-sacs and twisting streets.

I believe that there had been plans to create a fast artery close-in to Ann Arbor: Broadway to First, or something like that.  I've heard that's why the city owns the SE corner of the Ashley-Kingsley intersection.

The problem with this plan is that the neighborhoods adjacent to the arteries become dismal, while the suburbs become isolated.

That caused the pendulum to swing: now the idea is to no longer give priority to high speed automobile commuting.  With no high speed routes, vehicles are forced to amble through neighborhoods.  That encourages involvement with the neighborhoods, and the slower speeds are probably safer, and slower speeds also encourages alternatives to automobile travel (that is, the driver might decide to bicycle or take a bus instead).

But at the same time I think that Linda's concerns are legitimate.  I live on Spring Street, a nice residential street, but the slower Main Street is, the more we get impatient commuters roaring down our street.

I don't know what the answer is.  I suppose that ideally the change would start with an improved infrastructure for alternatives to automobiles, (such as safe bike lanes, and good mass transit options), and once people shift to them, automobiles can be restricted.

Most Cordially,

Tim Athan

---

From: Linda Diane Feldt <ldf...@holisticwisdom.org>
To: wb...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 8:44 PM

Subject: Re: [WBWC] Jackson Rd. Meeting tonight!

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[Linda Diane Feldt]

Since Tim brought it up...

For the record, note that I wrote this email that Tim has replied to 1 1/2 years ago. 

I did have many discussions, did some research, thought about it, saw what was happening in other cities and ended up fully endorsing the idea of turning a portion of Jackson Rd. into a three lane road. I believe reports that it helps traffic flow, and is also safer. 

Spring street is indeed a good example of some of the fallout. If you watch the intersection of Spring and Cherry, with an all way stop sign, it is amazing the percentage of cars that run or roll the stop sign. I counted a few times, and it was over 90%. I make sure to come to a complete stop at every stop sign in the neighborhood when I pass through in my car - and sometimes I've been nearly rear-ended by cars who just don't expect someone to fully stop.

Safety should be the most obvious determiner, and I am thoroughly convinced that lane restrictions, pedestrian crossing islands, designated turn lanes, and many other suggestions do indeed make a difference. And I think we are having a cultural shift of awareness for pedestrians. When the crosswalks were painted on Liberty near Fourth St. almost no one stopped. Many months later, the compliance with the ordinance is far better, from my limited observations. Cars stop far more often than not. I'm finding that to be true other places as well, although we still have a very long way to go.

My most recent question is am I putting myself in danger by tapping on cars who are in the crosswalk? I do it to make sure they know I'm there. Especially if I'm forced to go behind a car. I do it with my hand, three taps. It has been suggested that one day someone will not respond well to their car being touched. Sometimes I just stand by the car and wait for them to move. They try and gesture me to go into the traffic in front of them (since they are blocking the crosswalk), and especially with a dog I don't do that. What is a good way to help educate car drivers who insist on driving into crosswalks waiting to turn, when it is obvious there are pedestrians around? 

Sometimes when this happens I'm carrying a plastic bag of dog poop. So many temptations, but I haven't used that one yet. I'm trying to just enjoy walking my dog, but it can be challenging still.

Linda Diane Feldt

Holistic Health Practitioner

writing.lindadianefeldt.com

holistic.lindadianefeldt.com

twitter.com/wildcrafting

734-662-4902

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