9th Street Crosswalk Now Visible, Shouldn’t Get Blocked Again
Not every crosswalk point in the city is marked with paint. Ninth Street at St. Charles St was such an example, a well-used point that was unmarked. Hotel guests cross here to reach the parking garage. But unmarked crossing points can inadvertently get blocked by motorists.
The lane where the Golf is parked is has been marked as no parking for a long time, not sure why. On the morning of December 4th I met with traffic commissioner Steve Runde to discuss allowing parking on 9th, mentioning a crosswalk designation would be nice. The following morning it was already done!
Should the crosswalk get blocked now it’ll be easier to get parking enforcement to issue a ticket. Once the parking meters get installed on 9th I’ll do another post.
Thanks to Steve Runde for listening and responding!
— Steve Patterson
That painted cross-walk goes very well with all the classic architecture. Why don’t we have these in more places?
Paint costs money and requires labor to both install and to maintain. The Streets Dept. has limted funds to spend on everything – snow removal, pothole filling, street repaving, new curb ramps, street signals and, yes, painted crosswalks. In the greater scheme of things, painted crosswalks are a low priority unles there’s a proven safety issue.
Yep — it often comes down to dollars and cents. But some would definitely argue (me, for example) that a well-maintained crosswalk — whether that be a signaled intersection, painted surface or both — significantly increases safety for both pedestrians and drivers.
For the latter, those visual cues encourage a more cautious, focused approach. And for the former, it encourages crossing at designated points, rather than mid-block.
For heavily-traveled/walked sections, I think painted crosswalks should be the standard, for the points I mentioned above. I also believe any signaled intersection five or more lanes wide (counting parking lanes and medians) should require countdown timers. These efforts create a visual mandate which helps encourage safe, shared use of the public way.