See my original post on this eleven months ago:
http://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/2010/06/white-plains-needs-pedestrian.html
The example I gave at the bottom occurred most recently yesterday while I was crossing Martine Avenue on MLK Blvd., i.e., walking toward the northeast corner of the library: a car was turning left from MLK onto Martine into the crosswalk from the second lane, which does not have a turn arrow. How is that legal much less safe? It's the same physical block as the Public Safety headquarters.
A friend told me that she was struck by a car in a similar situation last year at the corner of that same Public Safety headquarters. What the heck? How about using technology to enforce safety laws, especially those that impact quality of life.
I sent my original post to the members of the White Plains Common Council, including the mayor. Obviously, the problem has not been addressed. Why not? I will send this message to the CC members again but I am not optimistic that anything will be done. That's a sad commentary on White Plains, which could be much more than the convenient compromise that it is, grappling with little more than car issues: parking and traffic movement, as in how quickly can we move cars through downtown with little regard for pedestrians.
The action of that driver near the library yesterday should seem familiar to the CC members. The new mayor lives in NE WP. Another lives downtown. I don't know where the new member lives. The rest live in almost Scarsdale and it could easily have been a CC member making that thoughtless, seemingly inconsequential illegal turn into the crosswalk. To them downtown White Plains is there for their convenience and amusement. They would never consider living downtown but enjoy having the stores and restaurants so close and accessible. Just hop in the car and you're there in a few minutes. That's why we have so many high speed mega lane roads and multi-level parking garages, the architectural feature that defines White Plains.
Downtown has been blighted to support cars to support retail sales tax. Maybe breaking that boom-bust tax dependency would also begin to change public policy that has become so distorted by its accommodation of cars.
White Plains needs a Pedestrian Commissioner more than ever.
