Pittsburgh Vigilante Crosswalk Painter
I love when citizens take it into their own hands to remedy what dumb and bloated city bureaucracies won't. Diana Nelson Jones writes in the Post-Gazette:
Originally reported on the Polish Hill Civic Association's Blogski, this do-it-yourself solution to a traffic problem is illegal, but some residents are delighted that if the city wouldn't help slow down vehicles, someone did. The civic association reports that intersection is "one of the problem spots ... where residents have been suffering the impact of speeding and careless drivers for years."The civic association has formally requested that the city paint crosswalks at that intersection and reports on its blog -- blogski.phcapgh.org -- that while it "didn't initiate this action and doesn't know who did, we share the concern that motivated it."
Alexis Miller, president of the civic association, said the group has been "voicing concerns on behalf of the community for over a year. The response from the city was that it doesn't have the means to paint crosswalks at every four-way stop intersection and that it prioritizes based on pedestrian traffic," she said.
Pedestrian volume at Melwood and Finland apparently isn't high enough to merit crosswalks.
"One success we have had was to get stop signs at Gold Way and Denver Street, behind Pittsburgh Filmmakers, after a serious accident in May. Gold Way becomes Melwood, and it is so narrow and a lot of people who live on that street have had their cars hit and mirrors taken off," Ms. Miller said.
"The fact that people painted the crosswalks themselves says more than I can say," she added. "People are willing to take action into their own hands. The city said that it would be removed."
From the Stamford Advocate:
Public Works director Rob Kaczorowski said crews were planning to install larger stop signs and paint crosswalks in a few weeks. City officials had previously twice denied requests for crosswalks since 2009, claiming there wasn't enough pedestrian traffic to warrant them, before repeated requests from residents changed their mind.Kaczorowski said he's never seen anyone take crosswalk painting into their own hands in his 32 years with the city.
"It's kind of crazy to do something like that," he said. "The person who did that would be part of the liability if there's an accident there."
But resident Mary Hughes said the vigilante with a paintbrush is characteristic of the cramped neighborhood known for its narrow streets and homey, working-class ethic. "Polish Hill people are unique," Hughes said. "I'm proud of this neighborhood, of people who don't hesitate to do what's right."
An Indiana crosswalk painter was jailed for his vigilante act of making his neighborhood safer.
This brought back a memory. Back in college the school was always having a problem with students taking shortcuts cutting through decorative shrubbery and across certain parts of the lawn. After years of posting signs, re planting and re seeding the lawns, the school eventually learned and paved the paths that students were actually walking on.
I wonder when the city here will learn that with these walkers.
Joe J at September 27, 2012 11:04 AM
I also remember a story in a similar vein. A college president was in charge of building the new campus. When the builders asked about sidewalks he said don't put any in, just seed it all in grass. Six months after the campus opened, he called the builders back in and said, "See where the mud is, pave it."
Jim P. at September 27, 2012 12:56 PM
Of course the city will remove it. It was not painted by union labor, so the person who gets caught painting such a thing is in physical danger from union labor. It's for their own protection.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at September 27, 2012 1:53 PM
While I can understand the city's concerns (and lack of money), surely if someone offered to buy the supplies and do the work something could have been worked out?
Or not. I recall that when neighbors offered to fix cracked/missing concrete sidewalks the city I was living in said no, the sidewalks belonged to the city and private citizens could not toouch them. Except in freezing weather, when it was suddenly their responsibility to clear the sidewalks with a potential $600 fine...
John A at September 27, 2012 2:04 PM
The problem with private citizens taking responsibility for maintaining their own neighborhoods, communities and the like is that they soon begin to realize they don't need the local government, let alone the county, state or federal governments to get things done.
A politician can't have that happen because when he isn't needed he can't suck the money out of your pocket any more.
Jim P. at September 27, 2012 6:39 PM
Just wondering -- do crosswalks actually make anything safer?
I mean, its not like they are armor plated, and they might lull pedestrians into a false sense of security.
Jeff Guinn at September 27, 2012 6:57 PM
Several years ago a local village had a family with a four year old deaf child. The village was a 35/25 speed zone on a state route with a deaf child zone sign up.
The family finally got tired of people just blowing through at 55. So they put a giant "SLOW DOWN" cross-walk type thing on the street. It was painted over within two weeks, but the local law enforcement and state police did a 6 month nut-buster on speeders in the village. For some reason the problem has gone away.
Jim P. at September 27, 2012 8:44 PM
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