Comments on: Leggett unveils design for new downtown library

By: LuvMyHood

LuvMyHood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:09:47 +0000

Just want to remind everyone that hundreds of apts. are planned for Fenton Village, along with the hotel. So that will be thousands more people using that intersection in the coming years.
“The more people, the merrier!” seems to be the planners’ cry. Dump a train on top of this scurrying mass of humans and vehicles, and things will get even better!

By: Perry

Perry — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:23:09 +0000

I would agree with those people on having left-turn arrows. Currently, if you’re on Fenton Street, there are many times where you’ve got no chance to make a left turn until the light basically turns red again so drivers have to be more aggressive. However, there are left-turn arrows on Wayne. Of course, you could always add in a some 20-inch speed bump to really slow down vehicles that are speeding down the street.

By: Sticky McBiscuit

Sticky McBiscuit — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:04:20 +0000

ThayerAve is right on the money.

I walk in that intersection all the time and it is unpleasant. I’ve had several near-misses with aggressive drivers turning into the crosswalk — left-turn arrows and some traffic-calming measures would do wonders here. Glad to hear there’s money for that in the plan.

If we want a vibrant community, we need to start building landscapes that encourage pedestrians. A skyway looks at first blush like a pedestrian-friendly move, but it only cedes the intersection to automobiles, and that will only lead to more auto traffic. I’m glad the county has foregone the option for now and hope they stick by their decision.

By: jt

jt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:46:57 +0000

Re: safety at Orioles Park…you mean the same Orioles Park where Al Gore’s son was hit by a car when they were leaving a game and almost died?

I think the never-ending debate about the safety at this intersection proves that the location is a poor choice. Save the money and re-do the existing site.

By: brh

brh — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:52:07 +0000

@Jennifer, for whatever reason ‘they’ like to stick to their latin phrases when dealing with these argumentative fallacies… Blame the snooty logicians!

@Thayer, amen! If the bridge gives drivers the idea that nobody will be in the crosswalk, then that’s probably going to make the crosswalk truly dangerous… I don’t really feel like entering the library or garage every time I cross the street…

By: Thayer Ave., too

Thayer Ave., too — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:42:01 +0000

Redesigning the intersection to better accommodate pedestrians and the disabled would benefit everyone who walks downtown, whereas building the library bridge would only benefit library patrons who drive.

Which is the better use of county funds?

By: brh

brh — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:03:52 +0000

LuvMyHood – Your ’scary incident’ is that in your eyes, a car got too close, but nobody got hurt. That doesn’t sound too scary to me. Actually getting run over? Yeah, that’s scary. But your story sounds more like peds & cars coexisting, and perhaps a driver who should be a little more patient. The point, though, is that we peds can coexist with cars… We don’t need the world to stop for us to walk across the street. Maybe some extra signage reminding the drivers that we’re there (preferably the signage featuring the penguin!). But your story doesn’t really suggest danger to me.

Also, I feel that your comment to Tdiddy is a little conflated – you’re simultaneously saying that if you cross there, you’ll get hit by a car, and after you get hit by said car you’ll have lifelong disabilities which will make it difficult to cross there. It’s one or the other… I don’t think anyone is denying that things are more difficult for the disabled, and as a culture we need to constantly be figuring out better solutions to transparently help those who need it. But I do think the implied argument that crossing there will some day get you hit by a car is flawed, circulus in probando via argumentum ad baculum.

As a whole, I think that raising driver awareness of peds and the ped right-of-way would be overall more useful – and actually enforce the law, ticket those who don’t stop for peds in crosswalk. I think that’s something that should be done for the greater good, and not specifically to target that relatively tame intersection…

Editor’s note: Holy shit! Was that Latin? — JD (Oct 28, 2009)

By: CoronaSS

CoronaSS — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:54:23 +0000

I’m usually one to go with the side of “suck it up and cross the street” in this arguement, but as someone who crossed that intersection almost daily when I lived downtown, I can say that 95% of the time, at least with this particular intersection, the motorists are the ones who are creating the danger, not the pedestrians. I’m not saying I never saw people Jaywalk there, but I certainly saw motorists gunning it through turns with no regard for Peds crossing with the rite away. I always enjoyed looking into the car at their stone cold faces, wondering if they would really be so intimidating if they actually clobbered someone (intentionally or not).

My honest opinion? Between the church, the Whole Foods, the gym, and now the library and purple line, there is just too much crap in one small intersection. Heaven forbid we’d spread some of this stuff south on Georgia.

With that said, I don’t think a bridge is the answer, and I don’t think that $300k in “improvements” is the answer. After all, its only going to get worse at that intersection before it gets better once construction actually starts in 2050. Really, all you need to do is put cops at all four corners and have them flag cars turning into people, and people jaywalking, similar to a radar stop. You have to hit people where it hurts (whoops, bad metaphor, but you get the point) and a few $150 tickets and lost days of work for court would go a long way to stopping the problem. Though once the purple line comes, I’d love to just see them install the railroad track crossing guards that come down when the cars and peds don’t have the right away.

By: LuvMyHood

LuvMyHood — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:20:05 +0000

Here is just one scary incident, from this past summer: Crossing Wayne on the east side, I was behind 2 women and a small dog. We were all crossing as our walk signal began. An agressive driver turning left off Fenton barely missed the dog. That intersection should have left-turn arrows and no-turn-on-red all the way around. That should cost a lot less than $300,000.
Oh, and I think it needs cameras, too.
Tdiddy, people who get hit by cars can have lifelong disabilities, making it hard for them to “navigate a couple of lanes of traffic.”

By: Tdiddy

Tdiddy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:42:04 +0000

Apparently the folks in Silver Spring need help. I’m tired of all the mollycoddling, hence the ire. If you can’t navigate a couple lanes of traffic I seriously wonder if you’re capable of reading a book.

Editor’s note: Play nice. — JD (Oct 28, 2009)