Raise the Hammer

Mingling residential roads and street hockey is unsafe, too. Mingling legal right turns and crosswalks is unsafe too.

You need to visit Europe sometime to see how a careful managed balance -- of modal mingling (e.g. multi-use trails, calm traffic, etc) and modal separation (e.g. dedicated bike lanes) works. Both works, but all factors must be carefully and wisely considered.

We don't have many parallels in Hamilton, but the closest example we have -- is James St. North. Over twenty years ago, it was a 1-way urban expressway with speeding cars. Today, James St N is a much more tamed corridor that mingles better and on a "relative safety scale" -- jaywalking much more closer to a residential road (where jaywalking is relatively safe; you do not arrest someone for crossing a residential street to reach their suburban house) than a freeway (where jaywalking is dangerous and law should obviously be enforced) as cars are moving much more slowly on James St N. Many people cross James St N nowadays to reach a store across the street. Perhaps it's not legal, but being hit by a car on James St N today would be slower moving than 20 years ago on this particular corridor. Nowadays, many people don't call crossing James St N as being "jaywalking" anymore, just like we don't use the word "jaywalking" to describe crossing a suburban residential road to a neighbour. Please note, the term "jaywalking" was invented to evict pedestrians from roads where they used to always belong for centuries. Legally, it may be different, but just ask any pleasure stroller James St N near Mulberry Cafe, "Is crossing James St N considered considered jaywalking?" and for more of them, you'll draw blank stares.

New homework for jim: Write a critique of both PROS and CONS of the multimodal systems found in other cities. Don't just write about CONS, don't just write about PROS, find a way to critique BOTH the PROS and CONS of multimodal mingling AND also BOTH the PROS and CONS of multimodal separation. Illustrate that in addition to self-transportation benefits, there are side social and economic benefits. Do so honestly.

Comment edited by mdrejhon on 2016-01-07 13:51:33