A person was hit by a car last week, while crossing Route 9W in Ulster. The Daily Freeman quoted the police as saying, “the 24-year-old man allegedly ran into the roadway near the intersection of Route 9W and Frank Sottile Boulevard.”
The driver will not face any charges because she had the green light and therefore the right of way. Meanwhile, the person who was hit and suffered a broken leg will face possible criminal charges “for failure to yield the right of way.”
Charging this person with a crime is wrong. Not only that, but the circumstance that brought about this crash is wrong. And to charge the victim with a crime… it’s a classic case of victim blaming.
If we look deeper, we will see that within this situation is the essence of the prevailing transportation paradigm in Ulster County.
Hmmm ok. He failed to yield the right of way. Surely, if a ticket can be issued for such an infraction, there must be an safe crossing area that this now-injured person has carelessly overlooked.
Spoiler alert - the intersection, and the entire strip of traffic in question, is incredibly dangerous for pedestrians. A crash like this is not just an accident. It’s statistically inevitable, due to a confluence of factors:
high levels of traffic moving at deadly speeds,
a significant population of people who do not drive but who do live in walking and biking distance,
many stores which sell essential items not found in more walkable areas,
many places of employment which do not pay a living wage for employees to comfortably afford to drive,
inadequate public transit service, and
street design which does not provide adequate protection for people outside of cars.
I decided to go and see for myself what the safe and accessible intersection of 9W and Frank Sottile Blvd looks like. I also took a little video of the intersection. Here are some observations.
There are no crosswalks. There are no crossing signals.
There are 5 lanes on 9W, and 5 lanes on the intersecting Frank Sottile.
I filmed for several signal cycles, and there was not more than 5 seconds in that entire time, in which there was no traffic crossing 9W.
The slip lane coming from Frank Sottile onto 9W has a large blind spot due to a utility pole.
I spotted three cyclists while down there researching. One appeared to be a person in their sixties who was coming down the hill from the Sears parking lot.
In the few minutes that I was filming the 9W and Frank Sottile intersection, I spotted one person jog across the road.
There is ONE signalized crosswalk on the entire strip between Frank Sottile and the area where Ulter Ave and 9W merge… but the signal is broken and has been for some time. This signal is at Massa Drive near Starbucks.
As it turns out, there are ZERO (0) working pedestrian crossings for that entire stretch of 9W, from Miron Lane by Shoprite, to Frank Sottile Boulevard by Walmart.
There IS a sidewalk on the western side of 9W, which stretches until near the intersection with Route 209; however this sidewalk is frequently interrupted by wide driveways which cars frequently enter at a rapid clip. There are no continuous sidewalks on the eastern side of 9W.
There is no safe way to cross this street.
Actually, there’s a better term for this thoroughfare: stroad. Stroads are “multilane thoroughfares that are dangerous and financially unproductive, yet somehow also ubiquitous in North America” per the Strong Towns website.
Here’s a great explanation of what a stroad is:
The design of the stroad on 9W is unethical. It does not adequately provide safe infrastructure for people who walk, bike or use mobility devices, despite a large population within walking distance. It unjustly prioritizes the rapid movement of car and truck traffic, over the lives of community members.
And on top of that, the impulse to charge the victim of this stroad with a crime is not only wrong, it’s absurd. There is no reliable way for a pedestrian to know if they have the right of way on this stroad. The appropriate response would be to commit to redesigning this stroad so that it is safe and accessible for all community members.
If anyone knows this person who was hit, please have them contact me. I and some others would like to pay any fines they have incurred.
By the way, did you know that Mordor is actually a metaphor for stroads?
Best post yet! Thanks for linking to the Youtube channel, think I'll check it out later.
Absurdity is meant to be felt - with a chuckle or by realization.
It signals a disconnection, a wrongness that is systemic in this case.
Walking is one of the healthiest things you can do for your mind body and spirit. Watch out, you might be ticketed for it.
Hey, I remembered what I wrote!