A Copy Of A Post About Walking "Issues" In The Suburbs

Every time I start to think about trying to write "notes" posts that will eventually, in one combination or another, serve to make points that I can't make without first some background; I don't even know where to begin.

This is a copy of a long and tedious post that I wrote on my WordCrafter09 blog.  I don't particularly recommend reading it, but it's here as an easy "reference thing".  My plan is not to post more than this post and maybe another similar one on this "Walking Notes" blog.  It's just that these "reference" posts may help newer ones make more sense.  

So, it follows below:


The following isn't particularly what one would think of as "a blog post", but I wanted a handy place to post it - not because I think anyone will really read it, but in case I want to refer to it in the future.  I may move or delete it at some point.  For now, it's here and away from the big mix of other stuff I have online under names other than "WordCrafter 09".

Walking In The Suburbs - A "Foundation Post"

Introduction to this long "post" (It's not exactly what one would think of as a "blog post"). 


I've called this post/page "A Foundation Post" because there are any number of things I want to write about that won't make sense, or present a clear enough picture, without first presenting the "basic backdrop" against which some of those other "issues" exist.  For the most part, I don't expect too many people to read this long, tedious, account of the challenges to pedestrians in the suburbs (or at least the kind of suburb where I live, which is kind of rural-turned-semi-rural=-but-only-away-from-the-main-drag.


I figured I'd write this "foundation post" so that, at least, I can refer to it in anything I write in the future.
There are some things that I'd like to write about, but in order for them to make any sense someone would have to have a solid understanding of what's involved in living where I live and having no driver's license or car.  (My driver's license was a casualty of a divorce that was handled in a really bizarre way.).  I've written about the situation elsewhere.  The main point is that things were handled in such a bizarre way (AND, because I couldn't straight answers from people as goal-posts kept being moved by one or another person in "The System"), even when I've had the "spare" x-hundred (or how-ever-many) dollars to get the license squared away, I've just been too "paranoid" about handing over that much money - only to discover that some other goal-post had been moved, and I couldn't get the money back and use it for something that would actually be more useful to me.


In any case, I'm going to post a few kind of random posts as a way of laying a foundation for any number of other things I want to write about.


This first one is about some of things that have made the idea of "just running out for milk" something that only someone in a situation like mine would understand.  Basically, there is no such thing as "just running out to the store".  This has affected my life and health in ways that one might never expect.


So, here's the first (and first post about some of the "issues" involved with part of the route to few stores at all within "reasonable" walking distance:


My Own Street (I'm Going To Call It "Street D")

On my own street there isn't really much problem walking.  There's the occasional storm drain or crack here or there that one has to watch out for.   (Storm drains often have some "issue" around them, whether that's breaks in pavement or some other thing that makes the area surrounding them one where a walker has to kind of watch out. )  That's kind of the least of all problems, however.   in general, walking is fine on the type of street I live on.


There are some areas that tend to flood to some extent, which means that heavy downpours or rain-with-snow-melting can mean trying to find one's way around those areas;  sometimes it's not so much "big flooding" as it is a big puddle that fills the whole street area, but if one walks in the middle of the street (which tends to slant toward the sides), one won't be ankle-deep in water and instead (if one walks very carefully) one's wet shoes won't be filled with water.


Other than that (and the fact that some of those puddle/flooding areas freeze in Winter), the only real thing I have to worry about on my street are two curves where cars that come around the curve a little more quickly than they should can't see a walker because of the curve or trees.    People don't really expect to see walkers on the side of the road, but I know to stay on the other side of the street at those curves (provided there's no flooding or ice at/around the storm drains near the curves).  In any case, it's not a big problem, but just something to pay attention to.


The bad thing about my street (or streets like it) is that there is no much traffic, so in Winter it's more likely to become, or stay, an icy or snowy situation.


After My Street (I'll Call The Next Street There Is To Deal With On The "Outbound Walk", "Street C"


After my street there's a small (narrow) street that has no sidewalks but has quite a few cars, school buses and/or bigger vehicles during the day.  At night that street is close to "pitch dark" because there aren't a lot of street lights.    The part of that street that leads me to one that will get me to the town's "main drag" has a curve that's substantial enough for the speed limit to be 25 (which most people ignore).  There's a guard rail at that curve.  I generally aim to walk on the side of the street that has no guardrail, but the thing with that one's back is to the cars;; and there's a stretch where the person walking would not be seen by cars because of trees or other growth.  There's a driveway there, so what I do is keep an eye back, watching for cars that are coming and then step into the driveway far enough from the road so that if a car didn't see me I won't be at the edge of the road.


What's tricky right at the end of my street is that if I don't walk to be on the guardrail side I need to cross to that other side of the street immediately, but what's on that side is (and I don't blame the people who own the house for this) a row of good sized rocks (to keep cars from destroying the street edge of their lawn, I'm assuming - or else maybe just to slow down any cars that are going too fast and may end up in the people's yard).  The issue (for me) with those, or any other "yard barriers") is that if a car comes too close to the edge of the road and I want to jump out of the way and onto someone's lawn, doing that would be trickier.


i've figured out that the best thing to do for dealing with that curve section of the that street is to walk a few feet on the guardrail side of the road (where's there's a driveway first anyway), and then cross over to the past-the-rocks section of the other side of the street (which means crossing over to right where that area is that I mentioned that involves a tree and a blocked view of any pedestrians right at that spot.).  Also, however, since there's essentially a second curve involved, crossing right there (or someone near it) means having to be particularly careful of cars coming from either direction (particularly those coming too fast because they think it's a back road where "nobody walks").


Once I get past the guardrail I cross back to the side of the street where I can see the cars coming toward me.  From there, the only real issue on that street is that there aren't sidewalks and it's narrow.  When big vehicles, two vehicles at the same time (going in opposite directions), or just cars that come a little too close to the edge of the street, come by; it requires stepping farther in off the road (where there are things like inclines, growth, rocks, or just the general need to be a little more careful).


The opposite side of the street along that stretch isn't too bad, but there's no real reason to walk on that side on the way out.  On the way back it's better to walk on that other side.  One problem with that, however, is that the road isn't quite as smooth as it is on the other side.


There are a couple of big trees on that "first" side of the street that are big enough to "hide" a person walking.  I'm always aware of choosing to either feel "protected" by the big trees (if a car is going slowly enough) and stepping off the road (to accommodate cars) and being blocked by the trees (physically but in view as well).  I just go by what seems right at the moment.


It's all pretty nerve-wracking sometimes, however.


One good thing is that once it's dark (and late enough) that street doesn't have many cars.  Another good thing is that headlights mean one can see cars coming from behind curves more easily (hopefully, they have those lights on).  The bad thing is that at night people REALLY don't think there'll be anyone walking on that street.


For the most part, that particular street is kind of a "worst-of-all-worlds" kind of street for pedestrians.


When there's ice or puddles there can be pretty much no choice but to walk on, or in, either.  It's a back enough street, though, that one can (if one is careful to watch) just kind of scoot up the middle of the road (watching for cars coming in either direction).


This street (or at least the part that I need to walk on in order to get to the next, more "main", street) is not a long street (thankfully).  The last challenge is at the end of it, where, because the turn from the next street to this one isn't a clear-cut/sharp turn, and is a more a matter of "bear right" sort of thing; cars tend to whip around that turn fairly quickly.  So, there's the matter of keeping that in mind at all times when one is on that particular side of the road.   The mini-challenge to this little section of that street is that crossing the road before the place where the cars come whipping around that bend means crossing right where one of those cars might not expect someone right in the middle of that part of the street.   There are some trees of varying sizes between where cars start to think about turning and where that turn is, so they're a factor too.


My approach (particularly at night) is often to walk far enough past that turn to be able to walk directly across from the other street to this one.    Since it's a "bear right type of thing" that means there's a big section of street to walk by in order to be able to walk directly to that "better" side of the "problem street".   Sometimes, if the walk is at night or in Winter, having to add those additional feet/yards (I don't know how many of either is involved, because it can depend on other "variables") isn't really what I feel like doing.  Also, that other side of the turn isn't the best with regard to smooth surface.


I pretty much do "whatever" when it comes to what I do by that turn.  Either way, there's a whole lot of head-turning and watching involved at least until I get far enough in from that turn where a car that made the turn too fast a) can see me and see slow down and/or b) isn't likely to hit me as a result of that whatever issues are at that turn.



From This Street To The Next (The Longest Stretch/Street To Get To The "Main Drag").  (I'll Call This One, "Street B")

Note:  (I probably should have included this note earlier, but here's my reasoning for giving the streets the letters that I've given them, and the order in which I've assigned those letters.)

I'm going to refer to this street as "Street B".  (Considering my own street as "Street D", the street I just described as "Street C"; and the "main drag", "Street A". )  I suppose I see Streets A and B as the main issues/problems because the route to "civilization" from where I live is primarily on these two streets.  Besides, it makes sense to call the "main drag", "A", I suppose.  That's certainly how the town sees/treats it, say, during and after snow- or ice- storms.  Fair enough, I know.




The best way to describe my own street when snow/ice are an issue is to say that anyone who knows the street pretty much knows that if one looks out the window and  thinks, "OMG. I'm in here until June." or "OMG, what is this?  Siberia?" one must remember at all times that if he can get to what I'm now calling "Street C" there's a fairly good chance he'll discover that it's either down to blacktop (or almost to that in some instances), and cars are pretty much coming and going as usual.


My street may not be quite as oppressive and/or discouraging looking for people who don't feel like they're suffocating when there's big, heavy, snow on trees (or worse, when they're so weighed down by it they they're dipped branches form arches).  And, it may not be so bad for anyone who doesn't feel like he's suffocating when one can't see at least some hint of blacktop somewhere (and the five/six feet of snow we got last Winter didn't help in this department.  As far as I go, however, anything more than light snow, or else heavier snow that doesn't really stay on the trees too long, makes me feel like I'm absolutely suffocating.  Well, woods make me feel like I'm suffocating too;  and where I live isn't so much a "leafy" suburb as it is a "pine-y" one (which can be perfectly fine as long as a) there's not too much snow and/or b) one keeps to the neighborhoods or main roads (which have continued to replace woods anyway; which I'm not all that pleased about either, ironically enough.


But I digress.  Back to "Street B" (in case  you've forgotten by now, the second-busier of the two biggest "issue" streets).

Street B

Street B is not horrible, really.  It's just that the sidewalk isn't great.  How much of a problem that is can depend on who is doing the walking (or running) on it, but also on how long that person will be walking on that street.

One big issue for that side of the street (whether it involves the sidewalk or a whole big area of someone's driveway, the sidewalk, and the street) are puddles.  There's a strip of grassy, or grassy stuff, or a mixture of both and dirt (with or without holes of varying degrees/sizes).



In some places that strip of growth/grass is kind of a mound.  It other places it's a big mound.  Then again, it's flat in some other places.  How useful the strip is when there are puddles depends on how big the puddles are and which section of strip is involved.  There's also a couple/few places where the puddles cover a whole corner of a sidestreet that needs to be crossed; and the walker is faced with either walking quite a way up the street or else stepping out into Street B and walking way around the puddle (making sure not only that there aren't any cars coming, but also that any that do show up will clearly know that the walker is only walking around a puddle and will be moving back from closer-to-the-middle-of-the-street as soon as possible.


Another problem with Street B is that any sticks, little stones, gravel, acorns, sand, or whatever-else that may be at least a small issue on the sidewalk are also likely to an issue in the "gutter" part of the street.  (There's no "gutter", really.  There's only a curb in some places.  In other places, it may be something more along the lines of climbing down from a mound and into the gutter.)  Again, sometimes this stuff doesn't matter as much to some walkers as others.   It can depend on any number of things, including whether the walker has, say, a back problem or, say, a leg injury - that type of thing.)


The sidewalk on Street B has enough spots where sand has settled in them to make it obvious that the sidewalk is not completely smooth, even it looks fairly smooth in a lot of places.  I've known more than one person to also notice that because the sidewalk is slightly slanted, people know not to walk on that street for exercise because it can bother their back.


Blacktop chunks and breaks can be an issue.  They tend to be a bigger problem where sidestreets, or even driveways, intersect Street B and/or its sidewalk.  Storm drains tend attract an assortment of "issues" around their edges too.  Storm drains, themselves, can also be issues (reason, of course, to climb back up onto the strip of growth and get back down into the "gully" that is the sidewalk (if at all possible).


Leaves sometimes cover over all the "issues".  Layers of dry leaves generally mean one must walk carefully (and blindly).  Wet leaves present their own set of issues (that may or may not involve "junk" underneath them, puddles, or any sticks that tend to show up more when leaves on the ground are wet.


There are a few places on Street B where the tree roots seem to have created a volcano-like break in the sidwalk; and those areas are a matter of both elevated sidewalk and sharp breaks in the blacktop, mixed in with whatever else has happened where the giant break exists.  I don't know if I'd call some of these "root volcanos" or "blacktop volcanos".  Maybe both.  I don't know...   There aren't all that many of them on road from Street C to Street A.  The ones that aren't too bad just require careful stepping.  The most dramatic ones are kind of a matter of, "OK, so how, exactly, am I going to work this this time?"  (Whether or not any puddles or wet grass (whether lawn or "growth strip") are involved can make a difference.)   At least one of these "volcanos" has the potential of being qute the ankle twister for anyone who isn't careful.  Also, at least one involves not just a "volcano", but the mound variety of growth strip - which means that, for example, the individual who may be a little "tippity" (not to be confused, by the way, with "tipsy") because of something (for example) like some leg injury, or even a loose shoe) has to be very careful not to lose footing and end up toppling off into the "gutter" (as I said, there is no real gutter because there's no curb, or at least no curb that's obvious - probably because the growth has covered any shallow curb; but maybe I just haven't noticed any curb because I make good and sure I stay as close to the top of the "volcano" as possible.)


There's a fairly short (and yet still concerning) part of Street B where the cars kind come around a "minor bend" where the sidewalk isn't as far back from the road as it is on other parts of the street.  Long story short on this one:  At this particular part of Street B one would be wise to keep an eye on traffic coming from behind (for about two suburban-yards' worth); because as it happens, this is also a part of Street B where cars tend to have picked up a little speed (for reasons I won't go into here).


How Street B sidewalks are in snow:  The sidewalks are cleared, but one doesn't really want to make his way into where they're cleared; because they're cleared for a stretch and then that stretch of "cleared" ends with a giant snowbank blocking passage for a pedestrian.  (Surprise!!  Now the person who has muddled his way over whatever lumps/chunks, and/or ice/puddles there were has to muddle his way back to where there's a driveway opening.)   Of course, snowbanks eventually melt, get cleared, or turn into puddlles/ice at the end of sections of sidewalk; but you get the idea.


Of course, before the sidewalks have been cleared (which happens only after the roads have dealt with, which is understandable enough since not too many people want to walk on Street B anyway); snowbanks (which change in degee-of-frozen-ness and height at any time) mean a person must walk in the street, watch for giant plows and cars, and get into driveways when any vehicles come by (because snowbanks also mean walking farther out into the road, of course).


The thing with snowbanks is that if they're low enough or soft enough for a person to jump into, on or over them; there's always that as a way out in the event a vehicle comes too close (assuming there's time, of course).  If they're too high and/or too frozen and essentially form a solid wall alongside the road, that's another thing.  Most of the time, they aren't all that high.  They do tend to be frozen a good part of the time in Winter; but, worst case, a person could jump somewhere onto a frozen snowbank of reasonable height.  It wouldn't be pleasant, but it would be beat trying to jump onto/over, say, a waist-high (or higher) frozen snowbank.


I'm probably forgetting some things about the sidewalk side of Street B.  It truly is not as horrible as I may make it seem here.  it's just that it's not the kind of "sidewalk situation" where one just walks and doesn't have to look down, be careful, or adjust walking/stepping (according to what issue one runs into on any given day and in any given spot on Street B).


The non-sidewalk side of Street B isn't bad.  It's mostly a matter of the road/street edge and either sand/dirt or grass/short growth where the blacktop ends (and it usually ends fairly cleanly on this side of the street - at least until one gets closer to the end of it).


Needless to say, one must watch for cars and be ready to act if anything seems "off", but one can see the cars coming toward him (which is different than, say, that part of the sidewalk side of Street B where one walks on the sidewalk but so close to the cars that come around the bend.


There are a couple of places on this side of Street B where one is wisest to not-walk on this side.  One place ir worse than the other, but there's a couple of places where there's a not-obvious/kind of subtle curve, and trees can hide any walker who is just past those trees.  As is always the case with curves, however, deciding to cross a fairly busy-ish street before getting to riskier section of the curve can mean crossing where cars (coming from one direction or another) may not see/expect a person to be in the middle of the street, crossing.


In any case, I pretty much make it a point (as much as I hate doing this) to switch back to the sidewalk side of the street just in time to have to deal with a sidestreet tha isn't all that easy to cross (for reasons I won't go into here  Well, I'll just say there's sometimes a fairly steady stream of cars stopping at a "stop" sign, coming kind of fast over a little hill before getting to it; and also cars making turns into that street from both directions.  There are also broken-blacktop, puddle, and "whatever" issues mixed in with a big-tree/visibility issue for anyone trying to cross.  It's still better to take "forever" to cross there than to risk being mowed down by a car coming around the bend on the other side of Street B.  (In fairness to cars coming around that bend, people generally assume that pedestrians are going to be on the sidewalk; although the high-school girls' track team sometimes runs on that side of the road.  Also, I've seen other pedestrians walk there as well.)


Closer to the end of Street B walking on the non-sidewalk side gets trickier.  The surface isn't as clean and break- or "little-stuff-free" there.  Crossing back to the sidewalk side means doing so where a curve and some trees don't hide the person in the middle of the street (and, again, unexpected to be there).  One just has to sort out where, exactly, one can see cars coming from far enough away.  It's easier when there's less green but also easier when there's less snow.  I've found that I make sure (besides also making sure I can see what's coming from far enough away) that I'm not where there's a lot of under-foot issues to also have to worry about.  (One must keep one's head as clear and worry-free as possible when one doesn't want to be mowed down and/or twist an ankle or fall because of not watching what one is doing.)


I don't want to create the impression that the whole time I'm walking on Street B I'm in fear of twisting an ankle, falling, sliding, or being a hit by a car.  I'm not.  It's just that (at some times, more than others) a person has to keep an eye for all these things (even if it's only keeping an eye toward the ground in acorn-falling season).  Well, just yesterday I was on Street B when - all of a sudden and from out of the blue - a good size branch came out of the a tree and landed on the street.  My point is not that it could have hit me as I walked on the sidewalk.  My point is that sticks and branches and acorns and whatever else are always coming from somewhere on a street like this; and a person has to kind of watch out for not tripping on those too.


At this point on Street B, it's just about time to think of what one will be doing as he decides whether to take a right on Street A (and in my case, head toward a shopping area that includes a supermarket), or up Street A in the other direction (take a left) and settle for one or three convenience stores within reasonable distance (one, closer than the other two but that doesn't sell bread or bread-related items).


Taking a right onto Street A is the easiest thing to do.  There's a reasonably minor uphill incline (although it isn't so minor that the person driving a standard transmission doesn't have to worry about rolling back, for example) that gets a person (or a car) from Street B to Street A (if he, or it, is making that right turn).  On foot, all one has to do is walk up the sidewalk, take that right, and keep walking on sidewalk for a good stretch of the first part of the walk on the Street A.  More on Street A in this direction later.  The price for taking the right onto Street A is most often a longer and sometimes more challenging walk to the shopping area.    The price for opting for the shortest walk can be something like having to buy Cheetos or doughnuts for dinner.


The other price for opting for the shorter walk is also opting for a scarier street-crossing situation.  Sometimes it isn't as bad as other times. It depends on a number of factors that may/may not be related to the traffic.  More on some of those factors later.  For now I'll address the corner of Street B involved in taking that left to get the store on the other side of Street A.


One problem with that end/corner of Street B is that under-foot is pretty much a "horror show"  of one sort or another, starting quite a way back from the corner and, to some extent, for a ways after turning the corner.


Before turning the corner is a matter of things things like gravel, broken blacktop, sand, and assortment of other "issues" that aren't particularly anyone's fault.  Once making that turn on Street A there's a storm drain (with "whatever" issue may be around it, and which I won't step on, if for no reason other than not wanting my shoe to get caught in the "grill").


There's also some sand and gravel, or maybe some cracks in the pavement.  For some reason, there's usually at least one gross thing (often a couple of gross things) to watch out not to step on.    Before all the blizzards began last Winter, there was dead-skunk remains that "wore away" over time.  Needless to say, it can takes months for something like that "wear away".  I usually wear sandals that can be thrown in the bathtub;; but that doesn't mean I want to step on gross things.  Well, yesterday what was featured on the Street A  part of this corner was, for some reason, a couple of slices of cold-cuts and a piece of lettuce and some tomato.  There may have been a sand-covered hamburger there too.  Then, too, there was some pepperoni.    In other words, there were a few pieces of garbage on the street where one has to walk (since there is no sidewalk at all there).


If necessary and one really had to do this, there is stepping up over a high curb and walking on someone's lawn.  Besides assuming that people probably don't prefer pedestrians' wearing a path acoss their lawn; in Winter I've found that there can be holes/dents or sometimes rocks on the lawns.  Also, since they're not meant for pedestrians, there can be branches hanging.   The "off-the-road" area isn't just people's homes, though.  There are some businesses, so a person can step up off the road walk onto grass or in driveways without feeling too bad about it (or having to, as far as I'm concerned).


What makes even wanting/needing to step up on that high curb to get off the street is that there's a site of lights at the intersection, and cars that are about to make a right around that kind of rounded corner and onto Street B often cut it close as they do.  Also, because it's a main street that gets a lot of traffic (particularly at certain times of day), there can be two lanes of stopped traffic and/or things like good-sized trucks that take up quite a bit of road.


The trouble with stepping up on the curb for even that relatively short stretch of the walk is that a person has to be careful not to let his foot slip and kind of fall into the street.  Wet curbs can be slippery.  Stepping up and "way over" the curb and onto grass/growth can mean being farther back in from the road (not really far back), which can be a challenge (particularly for the person who has, say, a leg injury; but even for someone with, say, a baby stroller). Getting from "far back" and "up on high ground or curb" down into the street (where the cars are - stopped, turning, or just passing) just adds more steps/complication to the matter of getting out into the street and across as soon as possible.


Here's the thing, though:   People aren't supposed to cross from this particular spot (a little ways up from the corner) because they're supposed to cross at the crosswalk, which is essentially associated with the other corner at the end of Street B.


Before addressing of my own (but I've noticed some other people's too) issue with the crosswalks provided at the end of Street B, I'd like to mention that the return trip to get back on Street B from Street A is particularly challenging (mainly because so many cars are whipping around that corner at a "decent" speed, but also because they can be coming across Street A from "the other end of Street B" (and often, since they're scooting through the lights, at a "decent" speed).   Cars make a left turn onto Street B from Street A.  Sometimes they've been stopped at the lights.  Sometimes not.  For the most part, those making that left onto Street B seem like less of a worry because that turn has to be made more carefully because the lights that stop traffic coming from that side of Street A are at the bottom of a hill; and the turn onto Street B is lower than the lights.  The hill factor can mean that

 people who are making that left on Street B are more likely to see the person walking on that side of the road.


So why not just use the crosswalks and "push-the-button-to-walk" that are designed for people who want to get across Street A once reaching the end of Street B?


I had my reasons long before I had any leg injuries that made difficult things such as

stepping up on things like curbs, or even (at least for awhile before the injuries were completely healed) walking down even the slightest inclines (as those provided for people who need a "ramp type of thing" rather than a curb) I avoided using that crosswalk/light feature when it seemed like a wiser idea.


Street A (again, "main drag" in a suburb) has different levels of traffic.  Sometimes there are barely any cars on Street A.   That means, of course, that crossing is easy enough.  It can also mean that there's the occasional (or frequent) car that drives at a speed a little (or a lot) higher than the usual speed used on that street.  The "usual speed" is a "fairly decent" speed anyway.  With more "standard" traffic, or "medium" traffic, it's almost the worst of all worlds when it comes to crossing that street - seemingly unrelenting cars, all coming at a "fairly decent" speed.


At times when the traffic is the town's version of "rush hour" and/or when "everyone" is out doing their shopping, it can almost be better for pedestrians because there's more stop-and-go traffic going on, at least at places like lights and turns.  Then again, if things are REALLY busy, stop-and-go isn't always a help; because there can be all kinds of turns being made by vehicles coming and going from too many different directions (which can be overwhelming for a pedestrian who knows enough to be overwhelmed by the potential hazards in crossing).


In any case,  on a street where vehicles are the primary focus, the lights are set and located accordingly (needless to say).  At the intersection of Street A and Street B the lights are set to favor Street A.  In other words, they're super-quick.   The walk/don't-walk feature is also super quick.  Before I had any leg issues I had no problem walking quickly, but I found that "walk" feature really, really, brief.  I saw, too, that other people (like mothers with a small, walking, child and/or mothers with a stroller) didn't get across the street before "don't walk" was back.  In fact, it seemed to me that almost the only people who made it across before "don't walk" was back were kids/people on bikes.


Sure, drivers aren't supposed to just start going once the "don't walk" happens; but not all drivers have been stopped for the "walk".  And sure, the quickness, as I knew it then, did allow the average fast-walker to almost get across.  Still, with vehicles coming from different directions, this issue (which, I suppose, wasn't/sn't all that serious, considering the number of pedestrians over the course of a day); a person didn't feel great crossing at those lights.  Then, of course, once my leg injuries meant there was a challenge in getting from sidewalk or "island" down into the street (and sometimes over the sand, gravel, or whatever); that created a whole "deal" with pushing the button for light and getting into the street fast enough to make that light.  (It was a whole thing that I won't go more into here.


The concern for me is that the lights, as I said, are at the bottom of a hill.  It isn't a steep hill.  It's more a "decent incline".  The potential problem is that pedestrians crossing at those lights can't be seen by drivers who come too fast from the "can't-see-them" spot (before coming farther down that incline).  Much of the time that doesn't have to be a concern because there's a point where someone may not be able to see the pedestrian but is slowed down or stopped by other cars that are sitting at the light.  Keep in mind that the light favors Street A, which means clearing out those stopped cars as quickly as possible.  More of a problem than just that can be that whether or the end of the line of cars stopped tips off anyone coming from farther back that there's a light, the driver who is coming too fast from too far back essentially comes down over the hill/incline without knowing and/or (in some cases) caring that there may be a red light.  Those who don't know just don't know.  Those who know there's a light apparently just plan to stop short if they get it.


Twice since I've been crossing in that area, I've had vehicles come over that "top of the incline/hill" faster than was ideal. one instance didn't involve someone really speeding down over the "can't see" spot.  One instance was scarier because the person really was speeding.   On the one hand, it's almost better to cross there when it's dark because at least a pedestrian can see that lights upst past the top of that incline.  On the other hand, people don't generally expect to see a pedestrian there after dark (but also, pedestrians aren't as visible).


I've run into times when even though the cars that "needed to be stopped" on Street A were stopped, one of those "new" cars from farther back came down past that top of the incline in the lane where there weren't any stopped cars.  Sometimes, too, it isn't so much the "incline/speed factor" as it is the combination of sizes of any stopped vehicles.


i once heard a vehicle hit a motorcycle that was stopped at the intersection.  When I looked, I saw the guy on the motorcycle lyng in the road.  As far as I saw, the car had come down over that hill/incline too fast and just smacked into the stopped motorcycle.  The motorcycle driver on the ground didn't just hop up and seem fine.  In fact, I wondered whether he was seriously hurt.


So, while it's not that I absolutely will never cross at the provided crosswalk, I pretty much try to avoid it a good part of the time.







Street A - The "Main Drag""


As far as sidewalks go, the "main drag" isn't all that horrible in any number of places/stretches.  I'd like to say that when the sidewalks are good they're really good and that it's just a matter of some sections not having any sidewalk at all; but it isn't even that simple.


Where the sidewalks are good they aren't entirely all THAT good, for the most part.  They're OK enough, and/or in enough places that they're workable.  The stretch of "main drag" that gets me to nearest grocery store has a couple of really good sidwalks for fairly limited stretches.  When I say, "really good", I mean "good, like one would find in a city that has good sidewalks".  In "the scheme of the town" they're pretty new.  Those rare stretches of sidewalk come complete with a "normal curb" and normal sidewalk width (again, I'm good, city, sidewalks as "the gold standard").  There's even a couple/few places with a "ramp-like" cut-out in the curb for crossing.  (I'm not up my sidewalk/curb terminology.)  Needless to say, those "cut-outs"/ramps are great for people on bikes, with baby strollers, in wheelchairs, or with any disability (like, for example, knee problems).


One problem is they're only where "the ultimate in sidewalks" are.  In some stretches there are wider sidewalks that don't have "regular" curbs (although many do).  in most other stretches of the "main drag" (Street A, I've decided to call it) the sidewalks are fairly narrow and tend to either have grass/growth/dirt on both sides or only on one side.  There may or may not be a curb - depending.


In most stretches even those less-than-ideal sidewalks are OK enough for a person on a bike, with a baby stroller, or with, say, a little shopping cart or wagon, to easily use the sidewalk.  There's not always room for two people (with or without any wheels in the mix) to be in any one place at the same time without one of them stepping off to the side of the sidewalk (and sometimes into the road).  ("Bikes aren't supposed to be on sidewalks anyway," you may be thinking."  Believe me, I'd rather see people (particularly kids/teens, who don't always realize how it is for drivers, and who don't always know enough to be cautious enough) on bikes on the sidewalks.)


This isn't a huge problem, however, because regardless of the kind of wheels someone is involved with, it's not like there are huge mobs of people using those sidewalks at any one time.    The bigger problem is more for the person who needs to use those sidewalks and also has, say, a baby stroller or little cart (for groceries, children - any kind of cart).  Of course, a light enough cart can more easily be lifted or maneuvered


For the most part (and particularly where the sidewalks are old and narrower, what any pedestrian may run into includes a mix of "imperfections" in the sidewalk, as well as a mix of things like bits of gravel, sand, debris from trees, stringy weeds from the side, and anything else that may/may not be there at any given time or place.


It's not just the actual sidewalks that may or may not be reasonably clear.  Challenges for walkers can in things like the irregular surface of any grass/dirt on either side of the sidewalk, and sometimes things like gravel bits and/or sand at the edge of the road.


The real challenge on Street A is where there aren't any sidewalks at all, either because the sidewalk is only on one side (such as where there's a school), or where there's a curve and guard-rail.  As with Street B, there are curves where crossing requires particular care (if one chooses to, or must, for some reason) cross at all.  What's worse on Street A is that there are more cars coming and/or cars move faster, particularly when there's the illusion of "not much traffic", sometimes only because a set of lights has stopped it for awhile.


There's one stretch of curve that I think of as "just death defying".  There's no guard-rail and really no place to walk other than on the edge of the road right at the worst part of the curve(s).  Frequent tire tracks in some of the dirt in those places aren't very encouraging for pedestrians.  Even when there's not much traffic, however, sometimes those tire tracks create a kind of hardened mud that essentially amount to yet one more kind of potentially ankle-twisting challenge.  The overall concern about simply being mowed down is the real problem in these few areas.  That concern, however, is enough to make one realize that crossing where it isn't ideal (and involves a curve) is probably the wisest thing.


There's one part of a curve that also involves a stretch of guard-rail with a lot of broken road, or else gravel/sand associated with a nearby storm drain.  And, since the road isn't level and it's a curve, it isn't unfeasible to imagine even an adult losing his footing and ending up either partially, or completely under the guard-rail (and what's on that other side of the guard-rail isn't, shall I say, "great"; neither is it on the same level as the road.).


There's another stretch of curve where walking on the other side of the road most often means walking on an accumulation of sand (although a thin layer when it's there) outside of the guard-rail.  Adults on bike most often just speed on through that section of Street A.   So, I suppose, do kids over a certain age.  The challenge is more for people who either have something like, say, any leg "issue"; and/or people wiho have young children with them (in a carriage or stroller, or sometimes in a cart; sometimes on foot) or people who have some kind of shopping cart.


The "inside" (away-from-the-road) side of this particular stretch of guard-rail is truly not great.  The choice is venture through whatever growth or inclines there are at street level, or walk through one parking lot that's well below street level and deal with an embankment that has blacktop and is of varying steepness/angles (and sometimes involves - what else? - bits of gravel).


If I recall correctly (and I think I do at this point), if one chooses to navigate one's way on this side of the road, once getting past that particularly challenging spot there's still not really any sidewalk, but there's either parking lot or driveway to come to the rescue.  There's also a little stretch of "side-of-the-road" that has some incline that involves grass, dirt and/or pine needles.  Once a person gets throught that he can always cross the street (which is easier said than done much of the time) to where there's sidewalk again.


Regardless of where it is on Street A, what I've described is generally "the foundation" for the picture.  Where there's more business there are are parking lots that can offer options if/when one sees the need for one.  The same applies to driveways, and even lawns/mulch (belonging either to individuals or businesses).


There's a particularly busy stretch of Street A where there are larger businesses and a highway overpass/entrances.  Once one is at or near this busier stretch there's generally more traffic, and it's moving more quickly.  This whole stretch has its own kind of "horror story situation" for pedestrians.  It's been so long since I've even tried to walk in that area I'm not even sure what's there for sidewalks at this point.


Before I wrap up this account of challenges to pedestrians (just in the section of Street A required for me to get to the grocery store), let me just add that while, for the most, puddles along the way aren't a whole lot of problem.  In downpours, being splashed by cars can be.  Winter and late Spring have whatever mix of snow, ice, and melting there is, or isn't, at any given time.


Needless to say, whether walking on Street A is at all do-able or not in Winter just depends on the conditions.  On the one hand, once the sidewalks and streets have been mostly cleared after a big snow-storm, there can be ways to figure out how to navigate this stretch of road.  On the other hand, a Winter that has no real big snow-storms and only has, say, four-inches of snow every couple of days (and then some melting and re-freezing, etc.), can make the idea of doing that walk out of the question.





The other two streets involved in either walking to the nearby convenience stores or else to the supermarket (a walk that involves a longer walk on that "main drag") present their own challenges; and I'll eventually write more about those.  For now, I want to highlight some aren't associated with sidewalk and/or guardrail-related issues.


Mosquiitos and little flies (or as I call them, "non-descript flyng things") either in the earliest hours of morning, toward or during evening, and on any humid day in warm weather.   The mosquitoes and little flies can be pretty unbearable at least one gets to the main street.    Aside from either of these getting into one's eyes, there's the matter of them getting into one's hair.  I have a "hit-all-itches" policy (which means dead, lightweight-bug, bodies get stuck to my hairspray; which also means feeling like I need to at least comb out how-ever-many may be there every so often).


Bees are out surprisingly early on my street (where the bees are worst but not all that huge a  problem).  Some will follow a person for surprisingly long stretches of walk.


Then there are beetles and what I call, "non-descript horned things".  The NDHT tend to follow people more than most beetles do.  Beetles, on the other hand, tend more to make their way into sleeves or down necklines/collars (or not all that infrequently, into hairspray).


Ticks.  I'm more concerned with ticks on the main drag because that's where there's more walking in tall stuff that grows.  Ticks are almost the least of my worries, though.  They are, however, one reason I prefer to wear skirts and sandals that mean I can feel and see things like ticks rather than having them hitch a ride in socks or pant-legs.


Little, tiny, green, hanging "worms".  I'm not worried by them, but I really don't want them in my hair or hitting me in the face or eyes.


Moths of all of sorts.   (Winter moths can be out in swarms as late as November, as far as I've seen.  On a humid and warmer November evening they're another bunch that make a person careful about not eating them while walking amid swarms of them.)


In any case, I'm aggravated by and/or horrified by all of the above. It's one thing to encounter these things here or there.  It's another to "soak in" some combination of them for the time it takes to make the walk out to the main street.


Yes, there's bug repellent, but a) I don't really want chemicals, or much of anything else, on me when I'm just out on a walk to the store.  If I were going hiking in the woods I'd have to re-think that; but I'm not "that kind" of outdoor person.  I like the outdoors where these "issues" either don't exist much or have been discouraged with whatever is done to keep them to a minimum for get-togethers.


Yes, there are natural bug repellents; but here's the thing:  I don't want have to put stuff on, particularly if I'm recently showered.  Neither do I want to wear a hat (or something like that).  None of these bugs is an issue in Winter, when, of course, most hats are pretty acceptable-looking.  In bug season (which can run from, say, April/May through November), there's pretty much no hat  (that would do the job) that a woman on her way to shop for groceries or run some other errand could wear without looking peculiar on that particular walking route.   Of course if someone chose to wear "the running-suit look" and a cap, maybe that would help.  I don't wear caps - plain and simple.  They aren't me. Besides, the bugs are sometimes so bad on that route I walk, I really think something more along the lines of a bee-keeper's outfit would be in order.



And, by the way, regular eyeglasses don't keep most of these things away from one's eyes.  (I guess they slow down the little, hanging, worms - maybe).


Of course, certain times of day and/or certain weather conditions affect how many of these things are out at any time.  I often don't have the luxury of choosing which day or time of day I'm out walking (for reasons I'll get to at another time).