Stoneage Ramblings

By John R. Stone

Many of you know that I walk for exercise, you’ve seen me walking around town, in Barsness Park or along the roads and streets near Lake Minnewaska.

There are actually two routes I have, a short one and a longer one that includes walking most of the trails in Barsness Park.

On each route I cross Minnesota Avenue near 5th Street East and later Highway 104 near the Pope County Museum. Then I cross Highway 28-29 near the fairgrounds and Franklin Street at the downtown stoplight. So I make a lot of use of crosswalks.

As one walks one sees a lot of driving techniques that are, well, interesting.

One is the use, or actually the lack of use, of turn signals.

When I cross Minnesota Avenue at 5th Street I usually wait for most of the cars to be gone because nobody stops for pedestrians at that crosswalk anyway. A person could test the crosswalk laws there but when there is an 18-wheeler cruising down the hill that is probably not a good idea. It is best to let that truck sail by.

But sometimes a vehicle is going up or down the street and I wait only to have that person turn off a block before 5th. If that person had signaled I would have crossed the street immediately, but I have to assume that a vehicle that doesn’t signal doesn’t intend to turn. I didn’t need four years of college to figure that out.

Drivers don’t always know who might be waiting for their signal before they do something. If you’re going to turn, use the signal, even if you don’t see anybody.

Crossing 104 by the Museum is fairly easy. Traffic is light so it is easy to find a time to cross. Last week someone actually stopped for me even thought there isn’t an “official” crosswalk there. Thanks for that!

The two most dangerous crossings are 4th St. NW near the fairgrounds and at the stoplight.

Crossing at 4th Street is tricky because vehicles coming from both directions are generally speeding. The folks heading into Glenwood have a 30 mph sign about three blocks before getting to 4th Street but few actually slow down much. Traffic heading the other direction, towards Starbuck, starts speeding up as it rounds the curve by the fairgrounds and is moving right along by the time it gets to 4th Street.

A person using a marked crosswalk needs to be careful not to step out in front of a vehicle because the driver, who should be paying attention, often isn’t.

One day a few months ago I was crossing towards the fairgrounds and everybody came to a screeching halt. Boy was I surprised! I looked up and a state trooper was parked in the fairgrounds! I gave him a “thank you” wave.

The worst spot may actually be at the stoplight, which may seem weird. I cross from the bakery to Glenwood State Bank. There is a button to push telling the signal there is a pedestrian who would like to cross. A person waits for it and it comes on when the left turning traffic from Minnesota turns to head up Franklin Street has completed clearing the turn lane.

The problem is right turning traffic from Franklin heading west on Minnesota. That traffic gets into the parking lane to turn right on a red light, but it blocks the pedestrian lane because drivers wishing to turn right need to sneak up to get a good view of other westbound traffic on Minnesota. Most look left but totally fail to look to their right and see a person standing on the curb to walk across the street. I’ve nearly been clipped three times in the past year.

Often when the pedestrian “walk” light comes on, the lane is blocked by a car in the crosswalk. This is another danger because a person has to walk in front of a car that is already suspect or behind it.

I, for one, really appreciate drivers who honor crosswalks. I always wave to them in appreciation. I wish I could be waving at more drivers! And I’m sure there are many other pedestrians who would like to do the same!