02/16/2005: "This Must be Right, it's so Official Looking"

Does anyone get the new intersection adjacent to the access to Bill Weissinger's office? The one at the (can you call it an intersection?) of Nash And Caines. I mean what are you, as a pedestrian, supposed to do when you are walking along the sidewalk and then find you have been forced to veer out into the street.

If you are driving in a car going to Market Place are you guided by the buttons and drive into oncoming traffic? Who has the right-of way when two large vehicles try to drive past one another, and some poor senior with a walker is negotiating the sidewalk? There is a little trusting bird in the back of your mind, that says "this must be right it's so official looking" -but then your brain -hopefully, takes over and you think "this doesn't work.…"

Some people have suggested that the Town gave this traffic imbroglio their blessing -understanding that it is a source of consternation and in the process has the benefit of not suggesting, but requiring that people drive slowly. Examination of the 90 degree turn further up Nash street verifies this rationale: when cars approach from opposite directions at this corner -they take turns. Is this a new standard in city planning? Rather than post speed signs (and reap the booty), you build-in conflict situations. Does the city also accept liability when individuals driving in a normal "city" manner end up having accidents?

-Donna Gavora