Pedestrian scramble update
If you read my previous post about pedestrian scrambles, you know that it’s not the newest dance craze sweeping the nation, but rather an experiment by the City of San Antonio at improving vehicular and pedestrian traffic downtown by installing “exclusive pedestrian phases” at more than a dozen intersections. I was back downtown again today for a meeting with some colleagues and discovered two more intersections with the new setup that I missed last time: Navarro at Crocket and Navarro at College. Also, all of the locations along Commerce, Market, and Dolorosa that had not been activated last time were now online. Alas, though, still none at Convention Plaza.
While walking to lunch with my colleagues, we stopped for a “don’t walk” signal at one of the scramble intersections. One of them noticed that the signal for vehiclular traffic headed our direction was green but that we had a “don’t walk” signal and instinctively realized that something was amiss. Ah, she must not have read my blog! (Doesn’t everybody?) After I explained what was afoot (pun completely intended), she commented that she was really happy with the new configuration and couldn’t wait to cross diagonally– it was like being able to finally do something that had long been verboten.
While out and about, I noticed many other people taking advantage of the diagonal crossing ability. I did see a couple of instances, though, where people were crossing against the light and obstructing turning vehicles, thus thwarting the intent of the project. Over time, I’m sure people will understand and adjust to the changes.
The difference between commuter rail and light-rail
When cars came to San Antonio
The first San Antonio car dealership was a bike, photo and typewriter repair shop that started selling 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobiles.
It’s amazing to see today’s rush of technologies, ragged edges and all, bump and grind in the marketplace in a race to reconfigure how we work and play.
But the dizzying pace really isn’t all that new. Consider the shock of the first horseless carriages rumbling over rutted streets more than a century ago, stirring up dust, dropping jaws and spooking horses.
Giving us a glimpse into those strange and heady times is “San Antonio on Wheels,” a book written by fellow OnTheMoveBlog.com blogger Hugh Hemphill.
Just as tech ventures come and go in a slippery market – producing epic battles among giants such as Netscape and Explorer, Google and Bing, iPhone and BlackBerry – so too did early auto experiments.
Are you ready to do the pedestrian scramble?
If you’ve been downtown lately, you might have noticed several intersections where pedestrians can cross in all directions (including diagonally) at once, a la the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo. The City of San Antonio is installing these crossings, known colloquially as “pedestrian scrambles” or “Barnes Dances” (or more boringly by their technical name of “exclusive pedestrian phasing”), as an experiment to see if they improve both pedestrian and vehicular traffic downtown. During a recent jaunt downtown, I counted 14 intersections outfitted with the equipment for pedestrian scrambles (that being a third pedestrian crossing signal on each corner oriented diagonally across the intersection), with half of them actually in service.
The dirty lowdown on hotels
I’ve stayed in my share of seedy, cheap hotels, at least proud that I saved some bucks. But now I know, it really could have been worse.
For instance, there’s the dirtiest hotel in the United States, as rated by traveler reviews posted on TripAdvisor.
This is a place where, one guest said, “The bugs are nicer than the people.”
Another ranted, “No one should ever walk into a hotel only to find prostitutes walking around the inside.”
Where is this? Why, San Francisco. In fact, three of the 10 worst hotels in the country happen to be in California. I have no idea what that means.
I know you’re wondering. And no, San Antonio is not on the list. Neither is Texas.
On the contrary, Texas has two hotels ranked among the 10 best. The Grand Hyatt VFW in Dallas placed fifth while the Houstonian in Houston came in ninth.
The best of all? Inn New York City. Sorry Texas — but know this, New York State managed to grab only one top spot.
The lists:
I-35 closed Saturday
A daylong blanket of wetness (I can still hear a soothing patter outside) has pushed a scheduled nighttime closure of Interstate 35 to a more traffic-heavy Saturday morning.
Crews will close all main lanes in both directions between AT&T Parkway and New Braunfels Avenue from 4 a.m. to as late as 2 p.m. so they can do bridge work, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
Motorists should look for alternative routes such as Austin Highway and Broadway; or I-10 and Houston Street.
Also, watch out for the closure of three westbound Loop 410 lanes at San Pedro Avenue from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Could be rough. Work there includes culvert and bridge repairs.
The ultimate judge on whether the closures happen, of course, is the weather. The verdict for now, per the National Weather Service, forecasts a good chance for more showers Friday, followed by the sun coming out of hiding Saturday and Sunday.
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by Hugh
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100th anniversary of San Antonio’s first traffic laws
Lewis bzirdsong in a 1910 Franklin on College Street, San Antonio
It is, of course, one of the more minor centennial occasions. You probably won’t celebrate it but you will, without noticing, except for this little reminder, observe it. February 7, 2010 is the 100th anniversary of San Antonio’s first traffic ordinance. Nine years after the first gasoline powered horseless carriage, eight years after the city gained its first automobile agency, seven after the creation of the San Antonio Automobile Club, and six years after the city mandated that all vehicles be registered and display ID plates or numbers, the city introduced written rules for all road users. more »
Construction suppliers rally for new fed transpo bill
Congress has yet to approve a new, comprehensive surface transportation bill to replace the previous legislation (known as “SAFETEA-LU”) that expired last year, instead opting to keep it on life-support through a series of short-term extensions. The resulting lack of certainty over future funding– as well as limited funding in those extensions– is severely crippling the construction industry, that according to several speakers at a noontime rally outside San Antonio’s convention center yesterday that attracted about 100 people.
Kay’s transportation vision less than 20/20
For the past week or so, I’ve been watching the drama unfold as Kay Bailey Hutchison announced the transportation plank of her platform for governor and the ensuing television ad and Rick Perry’s counter-ad. The use of the DMS signs was clever, but her message shows a both continuing lack of understanding of the core issues on her part as well as a bit of a dichotomy.
2010 prospects for the Texas Transportation Museum
1925 Baldwin 0-4-0 steam locomotive
I thought I might take a moment to let y’all know about how things are going at the Texas Transportation Museum here in San Antonio. Founded on January 1, 1964, TTM is gearing up for its 50th Anniversary. There are a number of projects that have the potential to elevate the institution from a relatively small city concern to a statewide attraction. more »