In a recent City Talk, I discussed some of the ways in which the design of public spaces dictates their uses, including unintended ones.
At the end of that column, I noted the nearly constant conflicts between cars and pedestrians at major Bull Street intersections that don’t have traffic signals. At both Liberty Street and Oglethorpe Avenue, the streetscape encourages pedestrians to keep moving north and south and also encourages automobile drivers to keep moving east and west.
Let me share an anecdote of an experience a few days ago.
I was riding my bike north on Bull and was waiting at the stop sign at the intersection of Liberty Street. There was a line of cars backed up at the light at Drayton Street, so it was obvious the oncoming Liberty Street traffic should be slowing down. I had plenty of time to cross one lane of traffic.
But the moment I made a move to cross the intersection, an eastbound sedan speeded up, despite the fact that there were parked cars no more than 40 yards ahead.
Once I made it halfway across Liberty and was waiting at the next stop sign, a westbound driver on Liberty stopped for no other reason than to allow me to cross.
This is not an isolated incident. Such confusion goes on all day. Regular walkers and bike riders know to expect the unexpected from east-west traffic on Liberty Street and Oglethorpe Avenue, but visitors don’t.
There has been a lot of talk in recent months about the importance of public safety to tourism and about enhancing the experiences of tourists. Maybe we need to go after the low-hanging fruit first and make these intersections safer.
Savannah Music Festival off and running
For personal reasons, I couldn’t attend as much of the opening weekend of the Savannah Music Festival as I hoped, but I saw enough to be reminded of a few things:
The SMF continues to have stellar production values. I don’t know if a concert at Trustees Theater has ever sounded better than Dawes did on Sunday night.
The festival plays a vital community role. For 17 days each year, local supporters saturate the Historic District, and in the process they re-engage with others who care about the city and support downtown businesses at the same time.
The SMF is also a dream for tourists such as a couple with whom I chatted on Sunday. They had booked a Savannah vacation without even knowing about the festival — and they couldn’t believe their good luck in finding tickets available for a number of shows.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.