BIKE: Re: Roads Gone Wild

[Thorne]

I'd made a similar post here with a similar article about the concept some
time ago.  I think the concept is worth trying -- and aren't we already trying
it?  Look at the traffic calming measures in the Bouldin neighborhood (traffic
circles with plants, forced zig-zags).  They work in just this fashion.

------ Original Message ------
Received: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 02:53:49 PM CST
From: "Michael Zakes" <watcyc>
To: <forum>Cc: 
Subject: BIKE: Re: Roads Gone Wild

sounds like the same thing that was being tried in Scotland that we saw
about a month back. again, considering the lack of driver training here
compared to the UK or Germany and the preponderance of oversized SUVs here
I'd be loath to try it here
Michael F Zakes, prop.
Waterloo Cycles
2815 Fruth
Austin TX 78705
512.472.9253

"I think the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of
mass
destruction to tell the world where they are."

Ari Fleischer, on July 9, 2003.


mail


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Farr" <bobfarr>
To: <forum>
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 9:34 AM
Subject: BIKE: Roads Gone Wild


> Worth a read...
>
> >From WIRED on-line:
> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic_pr.html
> Roads Gone Wild
> No street signs. No crosswalks. No accidents. Surprise: Making driving
seem more
> dangerous could make it safer.
>
>
> "... Riding in his green Saab, we glide into Drachten, a 17th-century
village
> that has grown into a bustling town of more than 40,000. We pass by the
> performing arts center, and suddenly, there it is: the Intersection. It's
the
> confluence of two busy two-lane roads that handle 20,000 cars a day, plus
> thousands of bicyclists and pedestrians. Several years ago, Monderman
ripped out
> all the traditional instruments used by traffic engineers to influence
driver
> behavior - traffic lights, road markings, and some pedestrian crossings -
and in
> their place created a roundabout, or traffic circle. The circle is
remarkable
> for what it doesn't contain: signs or signals telling drivers how fast to
go,
> who has the right-of-way, or how to behave. There are no lane markers or
curbs
> separating street and sidewalk, so it's unclear exactly where the car zone
ends
> and the pedestrian zone begins. To an approaching driver, the intersection
is
> utterly ambiguous - and that's the point.
>
> Monderman and I stand in silence by the side of the road a few minutes,
watching
> the stream of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians make their way through
the
> circle, a giant concrete mixing bowl of transport. Somehow it all works.
The
> drivers slow to gauge the intentions of crossing bicyclists and walkers.
> Negotiations over right-of-way are made through fleeting eye contact.
> Remarkably, traffic moves smoothly around the circle with hardly a brake
> screeching, horn honking, or obscene gesture. "I love it!" Monderman says
at
> last. "Pedestrians and cyclists used to avoid this place, but now, as you
see,
> the cars look out for the cyclists, the cyclists look out for the
pedestrians,
> and everyone looks out for each other. You can't expect traffic signs and
street
> markings to encourage that sort of behavior. You have to build it into the
> design of the road."... "
>
> More good stuff at the link:
> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic_pr.html
>
> Robert Farr
> Austin, TX
> bobfarr
>
>
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