Conflicted Crosswalks: Washington St. and Columbus Dr. in Jersey City

This is the second in a series of posts about crosswalks with conflicts that threaten pedestrians. These are intersections located in neighborhoods that are not living up to their full potential, due in large part to traffic that is hostile to walking. As they exist today, these street corners are not neighborhood places; they are merely the residual space where flows of vehicular traffic collide. Each intersection has its own unique problems, but looking at several cases will help to identify some commonalities. This time we look at Washington Street and Columbus Drive in Jersey City.

One of my colleagues was complaining to me about drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk near our office. He was particularly concerned that the traffic controls were giving left-turning drivers a left arrow at the same time pedestrians had a walk signal. This clearly creates a conflict (which concerns me even more for nighttime operations, given reduced visibility and the likelihood of impaired pedestrians leaving the bar on the corner crossing the street en route to the light-rail station or a bus stop).

My colleague and I both had an initial thought that this signal sequence would be prohibited by engineering standards. Yet when my colleague looked it up in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), it appears it is actually allowed:

Section 4D.04 Meaning of Vehicular Signal Indications

...1. Vehicular traffic facing a GREEN ARROW signal indication, displayed alone or in combination with another signal indication, is permitted to cautiously enter the intersection only to make the movement indicated by such arrow, or such other movement as is permitted by other signal indications displayed at the same time.Such vehicular traffic, including vehicles turning right or left or making a U-turn movement, shall yield the right-of-way to:

1. Pedestrians lawfully within an associated crosswalk, and

1. Other vehicles lawfully within the intersection...

...3. Pedestrians facing a GREEN ARROW signal indication, unless otherwise directed by a pedestrian signal indication or other traffic control device, shall not cross the roadway.

Driving Truck

This was my grandfather's truck.

I found this polaroid in a box of my grandmother's mementos after her funeral. It was included along with old letters, family photographs from 1905, snapshots of weddings and newborn great-grandchildren, my high school graduation announcement. 

My grandfather held many working-class jobs throughout his life. He worked primarily as a steamfitter, but he also spent his time as a truck driver. The truck took him away from home, and it took some of his hearing too. It paid the bills and put food on the table for his children back home. It was a way to earn a living, but in some ways it was more. In a way, it was a source of pride.

For a short man with little education, skilled labor was a way to stand out. It takes skill to become a steamfitter, and my grandfather stood out. Because of the quality of his work, he completed delicate projects like nuclear power plants. 

While it seems more mundane, more commonplace, driving truck requires skill too. Owners don't just entrust their investment in an expensive vehicle to anybody. Businesses that need their deliveries to arrive on-time and undamaged need some confidence in their transportation.

Work Below, Glide Above

Most people today have difficulty understanding the motivations behind elevated highways, especially along waterfronts. With luxury housing rising to take in the views, there is generally no hint left of the work that formerly dominated the waterfront, forming the demand and context for the highways. These unattractive structures, and the dark, foreboding spaces they seem to create below, can appear to be nothing other than wanton acts of brutality against the city. That is, unless there is some historical perspective.

The leisure spaces of the waterfront today bear no resemblance to the intense workspaces of the past. Docks with their stevedores and drayage once spilled out into wide, nondescript marginal streets. Vendors crowded along the street between the dock workers and the landlocked stretches of the city. It was an immense hustle and bustle out in the open air and the workers were all subject to the capriciousness of the sky.

The New York docks in the days of the square rigger.

New York Public Library

The Gentrification Will Be Televised

Some influential writers about cities have been talking about how TV shows contributed to the revitalization of cities. Over and over again, three specific shows seem to be credited with sparking a return to the city: Friends, Seinfeld, and Sex in the City. The thing is, the city has always appeared as the setting for TV shows. When people embrace this narrative that is so factually incorrect, it serves as a window into the way they have perceived the city and approach it in their work to remake it. They are implicitly saying that what counts are places that attract the "creative class," and the experiences of working-class and minority urban residents simply don't matter.

Let's quickly dispel the myth that the city ever actually disappeared as a TV setting. I should note I am not the only person to observe the disconnect between the historical record and the return-to-the-city myth; David King had a blog post not too long ago. There were so many long-running shows, the narrative seems really quite puzzling at first. Here's a quick, partial list of older shows set in cities:

• The Odd Couple, 1970 - 1975
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1970 - 1977
• Sanford and Son, 1972 - 1977
• The Bob Newhart Show, 1972 - 1978
• Barney Miller, 1975 - 1982
• The Jeffersons, 1975 - 1985
• Laverne & Shirley, 1976 - 1983
• WKRP in Cincinnati, 1978 - 1982
• Taxi, 1978 - 1983
• Diff'rent Strokes, 1978 - 1985
• Cheers, 1982 - 1993
• Night Court, 1984 - 1992
• The Cosby Show, 1984 - 1992
• Head of the Class, 1986 - 1992
• Perfect Strangers, 1986 - 1993
• Full House, 1987 - 1995
• Family Matters, 1989 - 1997

The shows that supposedly marked the return to the city don't come in until around the time of the end of this list:

• Seinfeld, 1989 - 1998
• Friends, 1994 - 2004
• Sex and the City, 1998 - 2004

Since there were shows set in cities running constantly for decades, what is it about Friends, Seinfeld, and Sex in the City that is driving these perceptions? In a word: gentrification.

Before delving into more explanation, I think it would be helpful to simply watch the intros for Laverne & Shirley and Friends:

These were both shows about young singles living in the city, but the way their youthful characters experience the city has some stark differences. Laverne & Shirley shows its characters at work - in decidedly blue collar jobs. Friends, Seinfeld, and Sex in the City were about the city as a place of privileged leisure for the "creative class."

Dashing through the Snow

Dashing through the snow, climbing icy hills, across the street we go, hoping we don't get killed...

This snow mound in the middle of the crosswalk creates a hazardous condition. It was downright terrifying with our stroller this afternoon!



The thing is, at this specific location, the problem is entirely avoidable. The pedestrian refuge area consists solely of markings; there is no raised concrete island (nor ADA tactile warning strips). The snow plow that cleared the vehicular lanes could have made equally quick work of the crosswalk and pedestrian refuge. The only minor challenge of any type is avoiding the small concrete base for the pedestrian signal light.

Beyond the matter of getting the snow plows to clear out this specific mess, it raises a possibility for the design of pedestrian refuges. Recently, designs have evolved into a cut-through to accommodate ADA, rather than a ramp-up/ramp-down combination. Looking at it during the winter is enough to wonder if it would be ideal to align the accessible pedestrian ramps and ensure they are suitably wide that a small plow could clear the whole thing. The largest challenge that presents itself is the tactile warning plates they way they are currently being installed at many temporary plaza locations. To avoid being stripped off by a plow, it would be critical to ensure they were inset instead of simply overlaid on the pavement.

Sounds of Life

As a lingering effect of the foreclosure crisis, abandoned homes remain a problem in our neighborhood, creating voids on residential blocks. We have been somewhat fortunate that they have gone under during a rather prolonged period, instead of all at once. Some of the earlier homes have been sold, successfully renovated (despite having their interiors stripped), and reinhabited.  The houses that remain vacant, however, are deteriorating eyesores.

Especially during the depths of Winter, these abandoned homes are clamoring for something to interject some activity, if only the faintest reminder of life. These houses need some sign they are being looked after. One of these abandoned houses, which has a close relationship with the street and affects the many pedestrians who walk by all day long, was targeted for an intervention. The installation is titled Sounds of Life.

Conflicted Crosswalks: Gun Hill Road and Webster Avenue

This is the first of a series of posts about crosswalks with conflicts that threaten pedestrians. These are intersections located in neighborhoods that are not living up to their full potential, due in large part to traffic that is hostile to walking. As they exist today, these street corners are not neighborhood places; they are merely the residual space where flows of vehicular traffic collide. Each intersection has its own unique problems, but looking at several cases will help to identify some commonalities. The first intersection we will review is Gun Hill Road and Webster Avenue in The Bronx.

This is an intersection that periodically injures pedestrians, sometimes fatally. Taken as an absolute number, the accidents are on the high side but may not stand out as a priority. However, after considering that the total pedestrian activity is quite low, it becomes apparent that the actual crash rate is particularly high and clearly indicates a problem. (A deeper review would indicate that the unsafe intersection is a major factor in suppressing pedestrian volumes, as people avoid the intersection and trips between the neighborhoods altogether for fear of being hit by a car!) Pedestrians crossing Webster Avenue on either the north or the south side encounters real problems with left-turning vehicles.