08-29-2020, 11:56 AM
It was a slightly snide comment on the fact that when a sidewalk is impassible, that's effectively what we're doing anyway. More accurately, we're abandoning pedestrians and leaving them to fend for themselves to either walk on a street they don't belong on, or trudge through snow or slip/slide on ice.
That said, I think there is some truth to the idea that by segregating uses, we are in effect conceding the street to cars. There are certain streets where it's necessary and useful, but by removing competing uses from the street, what we're actually doing is lowering the "friction" on the street which increases the perceived safe speed for drivers which is the greatest contributing factor in fatalities and injuries. An example of this friction we see now is on-street parking on both sides of the street. The presence of the parked cars dramatically increases the friction for drivers and slows them down.
Having pedestrians use the street only seems absurd to us because we have already conceded the street to cars so that now every street is an expressway. It's hard to know how you might step that back, though. A first candidate might be to remove sidewalks from cul-de-sac. They're possibly the most natural feature of the N. American urban environment for a woonerf-style treatment.
It would be interesting to do a study and determine how much the city might save if it didn't have to maintain sidewalks on absolutely every street in the city. And how much cheaper would it be clearing snow on the sidewalks that are necessary?
That said, I think there is some truth to the idea that by segregating uses, we are in effect conceding the street to cars. There are certain streets where it's necessary and useful, but by removing competing uses from the street, what we're actually doing is lowering the "friction" on the street which increases the perceived safe speed for drivers which is the greatest contributing factor in fatalities and injuries. An example of this friction we see now is on-street parking on both sides of the street. The presence of the parked cars dramatically increases the friction for drivers and slows them down.
Having pedestrians use the street only seems absurd to us because we have already conceded the street to cars so that now every street is an expressway. It's hard to know how you might step that back, though. A first candidate might be to remove sidewalks from cul-de-sac. They're possibly the most natural feature of the N. American urban environment for a woonerf-style treatment.
It would be interesting to do a study and determine how much the city might save if it didn't have to maintain sidewalks on absolutely every street in the city. And how much cheaper would it be clearing snow on the sidewalks that are necessary?