#StreetFail: Walk at Your Own Risk

stop-ped
Photo: David Sachs

This photo from Friday’s afternoon rush hour on Broadway is a reminder that if you’re walking, the street isn’t designed for you.

The guerrilla stop sign, one of four between 7th and 8th avenues in front of the Anthem building, is near the entrances and exits to an underground parking garage. The street design favors vehicles so much that someone took it upon themselves to make it safer for people walking.

Except whoever painted the signs, even if they meant well, got it backwards. It’s up to drivers to yield to pedestrians so they don’t injure or kill them. It’s not up to pedestrians to stop and wait because a driver is too impatient to yield to people on foot.

As planners work out the details of overhauling Broadway, they’ll have to consider how street design can reduce the dangers that curb cuts like this pose to people walking and biking.

Got a picture of something that’s making Denver’s streets better? Worse? Share it on Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #SweetStreet or #StreetFail, and we may share it on the blog. You can email me as well.

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