Originally Posted by
mr_bill
Why in the world should people on foot be required to walk 100 to 200 yards out of the way at every intersection for the convenience of people in cars? Seriously, this is nuts.
-mr. bill
It's for the convenience and safety of pedestrians. If you study the places where people tend to cross, other than at intersections and designated crosswalks, it's usually because that's the most convenient and -- in their perception -- safest place to cross.
Divided university campuses with public streets running through are good examples. So are neighborhoods with lots of apartment complexes. Pedestrians tend to choose their own preferred places to cross streets, and those places tend to be used consistently by others. It took years, and some fatalities and serious injury accidents, before two local universities installed either on-demand stop lights for pedestrian crosswalks, or wheelchair accessible bridges, at natural locations long used by students. At one campus two of the deaths were students in wheelchairs who were forced to cross a busy multi-lane boulevard because the nearest intersections with lights and crosswalks were hundreds of yards away and were very dangerous because drivers tended to ignore pedestrians and protected walk signals.
The standard for design should be users in wheelchairs, walkers, canes or folks who walk slowly due to disabilities. Crosswalk signals designed by and for able bodied people don't properly serve the pedestrians who need those protections the most: more time to cross; better protection from impatient and distracted drivers.
Crosswalks at intersections don't need to be eliminated. But they should be supplemented by mid-location crosswalks at logical areas -- which studies will show are at places chosen by a consensus of pedestrians.