“But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.” (2 Corinthians 1;18)
I spend a lot of time on the streets. I do a lot of driving but I also do a lot of walking. Framingham (especially downtown Framingham) is a tough place to try to drive around; it’s an even tougher place to WALK around. As bad as it is now, it used to be much worse. The intersection of Routes 126 and 135, for instance, has only had “pedestrian crossing” buttons for a few years. Before that, there was NO pedestrian crossing designation at that intersection. You just stepped our and took your life into your hands. Even so, the setup at Routes 226 and 135 to get a “walk” signal can be very difficult. Sometimes you push the button and get an immediate “walk” signal. Other times, I’ve pushed the button and waited almost two full minutes for the “walk” signal. If you push the button and suddenly a train comes- FORGET IT. You’re just NOT going to get a “walk” signal.
One of my sons pet peeves is that many people push the button for the “walk” signal, then they immediately cross the street WITHOUT it. Two minutes later, the “walk” signal comes on. All the traffic stops, and many times there is NO pedestrian in the intersection! I’ve had the occasion to spend a lot of time walking around downtown Medford recently. (Maybe in another blog entry, I’ll tell you why.) The Medford Square area is old and congested, but it’s frankly MUCH nicer maintained and much more attractive than is downtown Framingham, AND it’s very pedestrian friendly. Now, they’ve got a lot of streets and a lot of traffic and a lot of CRAZY intersections...worse than Framingham. BUT their intersections have SENSORS! There are no pedestrian buttons. Within between 30 seconds and 1 minute of arriving at a crossing, the “walk” signal automatically comes on! You just walk across the street. It is SO nice. I don’t know why we can’t have that in Framingham. For that matter, they don’t even have that in downtown Boston!
When walking in Medford Square, you really feel like you’re in the 21st Century!
I spend a lot of time on the streets. I do a lot of driving but I also do a lot of walking. Framingham (especially downtown Framingham) is a tough place to try to drive around; it’s an even tougher place to WALK around. As bad as it is now, it used to be much worse. The intersection of Routes 126 and 135, for instance, has only had “pedestrian crossing” buttons for a few years. Before that, there was NO pedestrian crossing designation at that intersection. You just stepped our and took your life into your hands. Even so, the setup at Routes 226 and 135 to get a “walk” signal can be very difficult. Sometimes you push the button and get an immediate “walk” signal. Other times, I’ve pushed the button and waited almost two full minutes for the “walk” signal. If you push the button and suddenly a train comes- FORGET IT. You’re just NOT going to get a “walk” signal.
One of my sons pet peeves is that many people push the button for the “walk” signal, then they immediately cross the street WITHOUT it. Two minutes later, the “walk” signal comes on. All the traffic stops, and many times there is NO pedestrian in the intersection! I’ve had the occasion to spend a lot of time walking around downtown Medford recently. (Maybe in another blog entry, I’ll tell you why.) The Medford Square area is old and congested, but it’s frankly MUCH nicer maintained and much more attractive than is downtown Framingham, AND it’s very pedestrian friendly. Now, they’ve got a lot of streets and a lot of traffic and a lot of CRAZY intersections...worse than Framingham. BUT their intersections have SENSORS! There are no pedestrian buttons. Within between 30 seconds and 1 minute of arriving at a crossing, the “walk” signal automatically comes on! You just walk across the street. It is SO nice. I don’t know why we can’t have that in Framingham. For that matter, they don’t even have that in downtown Boston!
When walking in Medford Square, you really feel like you’re in the 21st Century!
2 comments:
So your son and I have a point of contention .. For I am one of those pedistraians that will push the buton for the light but will not wait for it to come on ... Rather, I check both ways and cross when it is not dangerous to do so ... It doesn't matter where I am in Boston, Framingham or ...
In fact, my husband has acted like, your son would like ... But he often finds the drivers don't care for they don't respect the pedestrians "right of way."
I hate when people push the walk button when they don't have to... if it's just you crossing, then just go when the traffic next to you has the green! And when the people push it 50 times and then go anyway and then all the cars have to stop and be inconvenienced with nobody there crossing.... grr!! It's just wrong.
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