Photos from Walk to School Day 2009
October 28th, 2009,
Here, finally, are photos from Northfield’s Walk to School Day, October 8, 2009. The first features Austen Chytracek, who was the first walker I encountered at Woodley and Division Street early in the morning. He had walked from Greenvale Avenue on the other side of town, near where I live. The second photo shows the lack of crosswalk markings at the same intersection.
The third photo shows all the bikes parked at the Middle School and the fourth is a sidewalk scene near Greenvale Elementary. Notice how much space pedestrians can occupy, which makes it more apparent that they deserve to have the separate space that the sidewalk provides.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Bill,
Griff raised the issue of the crosswalks this July. Apparently, “Crosswalks in the downtown area, those in school areas, or in high traffic areas are painted annually.” Woodley/Division is definitely high-traffic and arguably downtown, so it is odd that it has not been painted.
It’s all worth bringing up that that intersection, besides being congested and missing crosswalks, is just ugly as hell. People don’t like to address this, because it seems frivolous, but really, if we want people to walk and bike, it needs to be a relatively pleasurable experience. For Division Street, from 6th Street until the city limits south of the Middle School, there are either physical problems (such as the non-ADA street crossings or the missed intersection at Jefferson Parkway) or aesthetic problems (like the fact that the sidewalk/shared-use path is in the ditch from the High School onward).
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I agree it is no beauty!