Making room for walking

By Dave Churchill (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, September 21, 2007

When we reported this week about the group that wants a new crosswalk on Tower Road over near Productive Alter-natives and the Recycling Center, it got me thinking about the good old tradition of motorists stopping to give pedestrians the right of way in crosswalks.

It’s a tradition still practiced here, to some extent, although not in many other towns that I visit.

When I moved to Fergus Falls back in the 1980s, it took me a while to catch on to the fact that drivers here will flat out stop in the middle of the street if a pedestrian is waiting to cross. Almost rear-ended a couple of cars, because my years living in Redwood Falls, Minn., and small towns in Wisconsin had not prepared me for crosswalk courtesy.

In those towns, and most places that I visit today, drivers don’t see or worry about much of anything that is outside the curb-line. A pedestrian waiting to cross is simply a non-factor.

But as I became accustomed to stopping for pedestrians, it seemed like a better and better idea. And, as a runner, I really like it when I get the feeling that drivers are actually watching out for pedestrians.

On The Journal’s web site, one reader commented that, “There is an obvious problem in Fergus with inattentive and just plain rude drivers who just will not stop.” I still see quite a few people stopping for pedestrians… but quite possibly not as many as there were 15 or 20 years ago.

It’s a hard trend to pin down, since it is completely subjective. One factor may be that there aren’t as many pedestrians as there used to be. While there are plenty of folks out for a health walk, it is simply not common to see people walking to get somewhere. Teens and kids used to be on foot all the time. Nowadays, though, it seems like everyone gets a car as soon as they’re 16 – and then provides rides to brothers, sisters and friends.

Except right before and after school, there just aren’t so many kids walking.

Most pedestrians I see are on Lincoln Ave. downtown. There’s also a fair amount of foot traffic around the hospital and clinic, where employees are crossing Vernon or Cascade to get to their cars.

The area that raised the whole subject — Tower Road near its intersection with West Fir Ave. — is definitely a place where it’s not much fun to be a pedestrian. I have made the mistake of running along that stretch of Tower, and did not feel comfortable. There is little room on the shoulders and the traffic turning onto Tower from Fir is moving at a pretty good clip. Drivers going the other direction — on Tower looking to turn onto Fir – are often busy getting an early look to see whether there’s traffic on Fir. They certainly aren’t looking for pedestrians.

The city’s perspective on the request for a new crosswalk is interesting: The location isn’t safe for a crosswalk.

That makes sense, to a certain extent. But, then, if people are going to cross the road, they are going to do it whether or not there’s a crosswalk. In general, it seems like a good idea to try to create safe crossing areas in places where they are needed.

It says something about our society’s obsession with automobiles, when the convenience of motorists – who, after all, need merely to flex their ankle in order to stop or start – trumps that of people who are actually walking.

Certainly there are safety issues that come into play. But if traffic can be brought to a halt at the Fir and Tower intersection for trains – as sometimes happens, when the cross-arms there go down – can’t it slow down for pedestrians?

An aging population and ever-scarcer gasoline may someday mean a lot more of us are walking around town. It’s not too soon to start making accommodations for those trends.

Journal publisher Dave Churchill’s column runs on Fridays.