[RP TownTalk] on the subject of dangerous intersections: Old Dumm's Corner

[Dwight Holmes]

I've learned something. Apparently these are known as "bollards," or
"traffic bollards".  And they come in different shapes and sizes - and can
even be soft, if you have a soft place in your heart for people driving on
the wrong side of the road headed directly at you.

http://www.esi.info/detail.cfm/Haldo-Developments-Ltd/Halo-traffic-bollard/_/R-31301_IP333SP



On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 10:05 AM, Dwight Holmes <dwightrholmes at gmail.com>wrote:

> Starting a new thread so as not to jumble up the one about the
> Queensbury-W Beale intersection.
>
> It's on my list of things to do on a mythical day off to sit in front of
> Dumm's Pizza with video camera at the ready to take footage of people
> turning left off Lafayette onto Riverdale Rd (in other words, negotiating
> Dumm's Corner).  I added it to the list just a couple of weeks ago when
> twice in one day I was nearly front-ended by nutjobs cutting that corner as
> I was approaching the intersection.  The best part is, of course, the way
> they glared at me for being in their way.  One of them had a cell phone on
> their ear as well.  OK, enough grousing - on to solutions!
>
> For my solution, I want to borrow from a very common place convention used
> in European cities. Anyone who has traveled there will have seen these. I
> did find one photo in a quick Google Image search - not the best but good
> enough to show what I'm talking about.
>
> The link is here: *http://tinyurl.com/SafeDumms
>
> *Of course the photo must be from England, so you have to reverse things
> (it's directing drivers to the left side of the island, rather than the
> right). The idea is you have a small island right at the intersection with
> a sign with an angled arrow pointing you to the right, correct side of the
> island.  It's a well-marked (and well-lit - the signs are always lighted
> from the inside) barrier that forces people to drive where they are
> supposed to.  (The photo also shows a traffic light but that's not at all
> necessary - it's the arrow sign in front of the traffic light, pointing
> down at the street, that I'm talking about).
>
> This would be a major plus for safety at that intersection in two ways: It
> would keep drivers turning onto Riverdale Rd on the proper side of the
> road; and it would also slow them down (they have no stop sign), making it
> safer for the many pedestrians crossing the street there.
>
> Yours in traffic,
>
>
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