Transportation For America Which street is the most dangerously-designed? You decide!

Which street is the most dangerously-designed? You decide!

8 Nov 2019 | Posted by Jenna Fortunati | 0 Comments |

It’s time to vote! Throughout the week, readers sent us photos of streets that are designed for speeds far higher than the posted speed limit or where the speed limit is way too high for the context. Today (Friday, Nov. 8), you can vote for the worst offender on Twitter.

It’s been #SafetyOverSpeed week here at Transportation for America, where we’ve been taking a deep dive on our second principle for transportation policy: design for safety over speed. We’ve discussed how slip lanes would never exist if we prioritized safety over speed; how businesses can benefit from lower speeds; how walkability improves transit service; how some people are hurt more than others when speed is prioritized; and how street design is much more effective than speed limits in lowering speeds.

Now let’s vote!

Photo 1: Missouri Boulevard

Our reader writes: “Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City, Missouri. 35 mph speed limit, lined with restaurants and stores, bus stops, and supposedly walkable. The two nearest stoplights are over 0.7 miles apart. My neighborhood gets a high walkable score because it is near things, but this is what I have to cross to get to them.”

Photo 2: Bee Ridge Road

This photo came from a blind pedestrian, who wrote that the placement of this utility poll in Sarasota, Florida, makes using the sidewalk incredibly difficult for blind people and people with other disabilities.

Photo 3: James Street

This street in Syracuse, NY has a posted speed limit of 35 mph and a 25 mph school zone. Yet “several weeks ago, a 13-year-old boy was critically injured when he was struck by an SUV attempting to cross James St. after leaving the Lincoln Middle School,” our reader writes. He notes that along with three schools, James Street is lined with “senior living facilities, numerous businesses and social service agencies and several of the city’s few high-rise apartment buildings.”