These stone crosswalks often went in as the first street improvements, even when the rest of the street was dirt. They were used even when the rest of the street was cobblestone or brick, because the slabs were easier to walk on. They wouldn't be found on concrete or asphalt streets. (In the late 1990's, Troy began a program to improve the downtown area. They repaved the streets and then used a machine that embossed a Belgium block effect into the asphalt at the crosswalks, which were then painted a brick red. This is not anywhere as tricky to walk on as cobblestone, but still represents the reverse effect of early steam-era streets, smooth crosswalks, block texture every where else.)
The first systems used a double wire overhead, with a small four-wheel truck (like a steam engine's four-wheel lead truck) to carry current to and from the wires. This was pulled behind the vehicle the way a fisherman trolled a line, hence the word "trolley". Shortly thereafter, it was realized the rails could act as the ground and only one wire overhead was needed, with a single wheel like a pulley.
The last trolley in Troy was removed in 1938, with trolleys in nearby Albany surviving into the late '40's or even early '50's. (I think 1946 was the final year in this area.) Most trolleys and interurbans elsewhere did not survive the Depression. (Actually, GM, Firestone and one of the oil companies were convicted many years later of setting up holding companies in various cities, buying up the trolley lines - which were privately-owned - and putting them out of business by converting them to bus lines. Even buses meant use of these companies' products, but most ridership turned to autos, even a bigger boom. This concept, by the way, was the plot behind the Who Famed Roger Rabbit movie a decade ago.)
An older sidewalk is normally three squares across. A Hollywood sidewalk is only one square wide. In the real world, the middle line of squares was for walking. The line along the curb was for telephone poles, streetlights, trees, etc. The line next to the buildings was for the stoops. Sometimes only the middle line has stone or concrete, with either or both the outer line left "open".
(On some intersections in Troy today, the crosswalk is TWICE the width of the rest of the street, as the corners curve so much and the crosswalk is put at the absolute end of the block. If they put the crosswalk back from the end of the block, even half a car length, the motorists ignore and stop on it while waiting for a light, thereby rendering it useless for pedestrians to cross.
In the last few years, Troy and some other cities are finally "seeing the light". They are pinching the corners, not widening them, making it easier to cross and thereby increasing pedestrian traffic - which translates into shoppers and business.
I know there are times that when it is necessary for a vehicle to park as close as possible to a site. I haven't seen this on the campus, but I've seen in downtown where a cleaning vehicle is vacuuming an interior and the length of the vacuum hose is a determining factor. But I would think this is rare. In these cases, a few safety cones could be placed around the vehicle to provide a separate corridor for pedestrians. I note OSHA states: (http://www.osha.gov/doc/highway_workzones/mutcd/6d_pedestrians.html)
"There are three threshold considerations in planning for pedestrian safety in temporary traffic control zones on highways and streets:
"Pedestrians should not be led into direct conflicts with work site vehicles, equipment, or operations.
"Pedestrians should not be led into direct conflicts with mainline traffic moving through or around the work site.
"Pedestrians should be provided with a safe, convenient travel path that replicates as nearly as possible the most desirable characteristics of sidewalks or footpaths.
"In accommodating the needs of pedestrians at work sites, it should always be remembered that the range of pedestrians that can be expected is very wide, including the blind, the hearing impaired, and those with walking handicaps. All pedestrians need protection from potential injury and a smooth, clearly delineated travel path.
"Therefore, every effort should be made to separate pedestrian movement from both work site activity and adjacent traffic. Whenever possible, signing should be used to direct pedestrians to safe street crossings in advance of an encounter with a temporary traffic control zone. Signs should be placed at intersections so that pedestrians, particularly in high-traffic-volume urban and suburban areas, are not confronted with mid-block work sites that will induce them to skirt the temporary traffic control zone or make a mid-block crossing. It must be recognized that pedestrians will only infrequently retrace their steps to make a safe crossing. Consequently, ample advance notification of sidewalk closures is critically important. Refer to figures TA-28 and TA-29, section 6H-3 for typical traffic control device usage and techniques for pedestrian movement through work areas.
"When pedestrian movement through or around a work site is necessary, the aim of the engineer should be to provide a separate, safe footpath without abrupt changes in grade or terrain. Judicious use of special warning and control devices may be helpful for certain difficult work area situations. These include rumble strips, changeable message signs, hazard identification beacons, flags, and warning lights. Flagger activated audible warning devices may be used to alert pedestrians of the approach of erratic vehicles. Also, whenever it is feasible, closing off the work site from pedestrian intrusions is preferable to channelizing pedestrian traffic along the site solely with temporary traffic control devices such as cones, tubular markers, barricades, or drums. If the possibility of vehicle impact is very low, chain link or other suitable fencing, placed well away from traffic, is acceptable. Solid fencing with plywood, however, can create sight distance restrictions at intersections and at work site access cuts. Care must be taken not to create fenced areas that are vulnerable to splintering or fragmentation by vehicle impacts. Similarly, temporary traffic control devices used to delineate a temporary traffic control zone pedestrian walkway must be lightweight and, when struck, present a minimum threat to pedestrians, workers, and impacting vehicles. Only minimally necessary ballasting with safe, lightweight materials should be used with these devices. "
For 31 years, the building that I work in (Davison) has limited parking nearby. All this time we have made due by having said vehicle come up to the door, put on their flashers, and bring the supplies in or as quickly as possible without leaving the vehicle unattended in case it needed to be moved. Then the vehicle is moved to a legal parking spot, normally way out on the street on Bouton or Burdett, and the driver walks back to our door (grumbling of course about the lack of parking).
But I would think that many of these contractors on campus are not using their vehicles for anything other than transportation to and from the worksite. For instance, two days ago, I saw a truck pull up and park on the little pedestrian path that cuts diagonally across the island in the Warren Hall parking lot. This was NOT near any building and there was sufficient room to park alongside the road in any number of spots.
The sidewalk on the east side of Carnegie is a perfect example of one of the problems. The other day, there were three vehicles in front of it. Two were vans that were parked on the sidewalk itself, with no driver or worker around it unloading it. The third was a moving van, complete with ramp and two workers. But this van was NOT parked on the sidewalk. It was parked completely in the road. There was ample room to drive around this van and yet the sidewalk was still useable.
The point is that when a vehicle is parked on the sidewalk, it is all of three or four feet closer to the entrance than if it was merely parked in the road at that spot. Thus it seems there is a willingness to trade the safety and welfare of pedestrians for the convenience of contractors so they can be ALL OF THREE FEET CLOSER. It hardly seems a fair compromise.
In 2001, there were 4,882 pedestrian fatalities and 78,000 pedestrian injuries resulting from traffic crashes. On average, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic crash every 7 minutes and killed in one every 111 minutes. This seems a significant risk factor, far greater than aching backs and tingling fingers from poor chairs or tunnel carpel syndrome. By comparison, it is said there were about 200 cases of a rare cancer caused by asbestos. While there may be other deaths related to asbestos, I'm not asking for a match to the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on asbestos abatement. All I'm asking for vehicles kept off a sidewalk, for them to be asked or required to move all of three feet.
It seems that RPI gives a great deal of worry to the parking problem. Surely it would seem that the more that walking in encouraged, the less acute the lack of parking would be. Not only are sidewalks blocked by inconsiderate parking, but by careless placement of trash bins and other objects, crosswalks are delineated in haphazd ways (as if they were laid out by someone with a hangover) so they are not used, crosswalks are blocked by vehicles, and new construction of roadways is often without any sidewalks. I just feel so frustrated that no one within the school seems to take this risk very seriously.
If you have any ideas, suggestions, comments, etc.
as to either what
is or should be on this website,
or the Mueller Center in general,
please let us know.
To contact us:
Phone: 276-2874
Fax: 276-2817
Email: mugrap@rpi.edu
