[tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on pedestrian safety
- From: "Daniel Ben moshe" <danielbenmoshe1@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:49:10 -0500
This is a very good article. Something that I have noticed, is that they
are still talking about the same thing in 2010, as they were promising in
2000. These are things that were promised when I was a student at FSU, and
here we are a whole ten years later, in the same position. Someone said in
this article, that the main problem, is that people need to be educated in
personal skills. Because we have lost those skills. We are so into our
computers, I phones, and anything else that can close out the real world.
And we as visually impaired citizens are no better. We do the very same
things, as far as locking ourselves off from the real world as the rest of
society does. I think we need to really get aggressive, and put our heads
together, with those who are like minded in order to get this problem solved
soon, because something is going to happen, it's just a matter of when.
I'M glad to be your humble and obedient servant
Zechen Daniel Ben Moshe
BYS Broward County
www.theblindcansee.org
-----Original Message-----
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Lynn Evans
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 11:33 AM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on pedestrian safety
Please do I also listened to parts of the interview still half asleep and
fully frozen.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Plummer" <joeplummer@xxxxxxx>
To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 8:14 AM
Subject: [tabi] Re: from today's Democrat: article on pedestrian safety
> Yes heard about this on Wfla 100.7 this morning. They had a big segment on
> it. If I can find this morning show in the archives I will post a link to
> it. I think it will be very interesting and informative.
>
>
> Sign,
> JP ( Joe Plummer)
> joeplummer@xxxxxxx
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf
> Of Allison and Chip Orange
> Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 8:09 AM
> To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [tabi] from today's Democrat: article on pedestrian safety
>
> January 10, 2010
>
> National study shows Tallahassee is dangerous for pedestrians
> By Jeff Burlew
> Senior Government Editor
>
> Tom Baxter knows firsthand how dangerous Tallahassee roads can be for
> pedestrians.
> Baxter, 63, walks downtown visiting various courts every work day as part
> of
> his
> job as a librarian for the Florida Attorney General's law library. Drivers
> have honked
> and yelled at him and one even ran into him as he was walking along the
> sidewalk
> on Duval Street a few years ago. He wasn't hurt, but he doesn't walk that
> stretch
> of Duval anymore.
> "It's the drivers - they don't pay attention," Baxter said.
> A recent national report points to another danger facing pedestrians in
> Tallahassee
> and across the U.S. - streets designed more for speeding cars than people
> on
> foot.
> The "Dangerous by Design" report, prepared by the Surface Transportation
> Policy Partnership
> and Transportation for America, found that Tallahassee pedestrians face
> almost double
> the risk of walkers in the U.S. as a whole.
> The Tallahassee metropolitan area, which comprises Gadsden, Leon,
> Jefferson
> and Wakulla
> counties, had a total of 14 pedestrian deaths and 284 pedestrian injuries
> over 2007
> and 2008.
> The report gave the Tallahassee area a "pedestrian-danger index" of 109.4,
> more than
> twice the national number of 52.1. The index, a measure of the relative
> risk
> of walking,
> is calculated by dividing the average pedestrian fatality rate over the
> 2007
> and
> 2008 by the percentage of residents who walk to work.
> Florida as a whole fared even worse in the report. The four most dangerous
> metropolitan
> areas for walkers in the U.S. are all in Florida. No. 1 was Orlando,
> followed by
> Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville. The pedestrian-danger index for all of
> Florida was
> 167.3.
> Leon County Commission Chairman Bob Rackleff calls the dangers facing
> pedestrians
> "a slow-motion crisis." He said that while motorist fatalities have been
> steadily
> falling for the last three decades, pedestrian deaths have stayed the same
> or gone
> up.
> "And that's because of the neglect of pedestrian-safety programs and our
> failure
> to understand the real infrastructure needs," he said. "It's not just
> sidewalks.
> Sidewalks are obviously critical. But where we've failed utterly is in
> intersection
> designs."
> Rackleff points to Apalachee Parkway at Magnolia Drive as a prime example
> of
> a road
> that's almost impossible to cross safely. Walkers must cross six or more
> lanes of
> traffic to get to the other side. And while there are pedestrian "push
> buttons" to
> help walkers get across, there are no pedestrian refuges halfway across
> the
> intersection,
> which was recently redesigned by the Florida Department of Transportation.
> Rackleff
> said the city also needs more crosswalks in the middle of blocks in places
> such as
> North Monroe near Lake Ella.
> "We're very careless when it comes to accommodating pedestrians with
> intelligent
> infrastructure," Rackleff said.
> The "Dangerous by Design" report found that nationwide, less than 1.5
> percent of
> money under the federal transportation law, called the Safe, Accountable,
> Flexible,
> Efficient Transportation Equity Act, has gone toward pedestrian- and
> bicycle-safety
> projects. It also found that no state spends more than 5 percent of
> federal-transportation
> money on sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic calming and other amenities for
> cyclists
> and walkers.
> The report calls for more traffic-calming features, including pedestrian
> refuges,
> better road geometry and signals that give pedestrians a head start when
> crossing
> the street. It also calls for "Complete Street" designs featuring
> sidewalks,
> bike
> paths, comfortable bus stops and frequent crosswalks.
> Tallahassee is taking steps toward making streets friendlier for bikers
> and
> walkers.
> Blueprint 2000, a city/county partnership that's making road, greenway and
> other
> improvements through proceeds from a 1 percent sales tax, is including
> bicycle lanes
> and sidewalks on both sides of the road for all of its projects.
> Crosswalks are being built with pedestrian push buttons, said Dave Bright,
> Blueprint
> 2000 project manager.
> About 46 miles of bike lanes or sidewalks have been constructed or will be
> as part
> of Capital Circle widening. Stormwater ponds are being turned into parks
> with walking
> trails, and Cascade Park planned for downtown will have 2.3 miles of
> trails
> and sidewalks,
> he said.
> "I think we're doing all we can do" to accommodate walkers and bicyclists,
> Bright
> said.
> The city and county are receiving $1.8 million in federal stimulus money
> for
> sidewalks.
> And the county has applied for $40 million in federal grant money for
> sidewalks,
> Rackleff said.
> Steve Shafer, city engineer, said that the city has been focusing more and
> more on
> bike lanes, sidewalks and other amenities over the past couple of decades.
> The city
> has spent a couple of million dollars over the past few years to make
> sidewalks more
> accessible for people with disabilities. Some $4 million was spent on
> sidewalks and
> other improvements in the Bond community, and another $3 million will be
> spent for
> similar improvements in the Providence neighborhood.
> Shafer said the city is completing a study of West Tennessee Street to
> make
> it safer
> for pedestrians. That could mean closing the outer lanes to traffic during
> nighttime
> hours, though that would have to be approved by FDOT. He said the city is
> synchronizing
> signals on West Tennessee to slow down the flow of traffic. The city also
> recently
> spent $10,000 for a pedestrian crosswalk and island in midtown at
> Thomasville Road
> and Fifth Avenue.
> Tallahassee residents said inattentive drivers pose the biggest danger to
> walkers.
> John Plescow, a Tallahassee resident with visual impairment, said drivers
> are downright
> hostile to pedestrians.
> "I've been in the crosswalk with my white cane, and I've had cars pull
> through,"
> said Plescow, who works for the Public Service Commission. "I've had
> people
> yell
> at me for being in the crosswalk even though I have the right of way. And
> then there
> are the general problems - not many sidewalks, roads with very small
> shoulders and
> ditches."
> Plescow said he's also concerned about StarMetro's planned
> decentralization
> program
> called Nova 2010, which he said will force people to cross major roads to
> catch buses.
> Michael Carlucci said he was almost run down Wednesday while crossing West
> Tennessee
> at Ocala Road. He said dangerous conditions for pedestrians are a symptom
> of
> a deeper
> problem.
> "Our lack of connection with each other, our community and our environment
> is far
> scarier to me," he said. "This fellow in his isolated metal box simply was
> not aware
> that there was anyone out there besides him."
>
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