Are crosswalks needed in South Grove?
I know folks are still a bit upset over the new traffic light on Douglas and Poinciana. It's like the Grove is growing up way too fast. Above is an example of a crosswalk that goes to nowhere. Once you cross the street, then what?
I'm told that parents would like the crosswalks on Royal Palm, Palmetto, Avocado and Loquat, these streets are being used as routes by parents to walk their kids to school.
I don't ever see people walking in the South Grove, so not sure how many people are walking through these streets to school. I did see a couple on those rental scooters once in South Grove and that made me smile.
What do you think?
posted by Tom Falco at 9:00 AM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
13 Comments:
There are lots of walkers in south grove! Plymouth Day School, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Ransom Everglades. Lots of strollers as well. You should come spend a morning at that crosswalk and see how scary it is when these kids cross the street and have no sidewalk to go on. People are forced to Jaywalk, its an issue I agree.
An old time Grovie told me that years ago South Grovies fought tooth and nail to be carved-out from having to install sidewalks on new builds. I do not know if there is an express carveout in the City's laws, but based on the lack of sidewalks on new builds, it appears he may be right. The South Grovies' feeling then, according to my source, was that they did not want people from the West Grove walking through their neighborhoods, so they tried to make it as inconvenient as possible. Old world thinking for many ways, for sure. Seems like sidewalks would be a good addition to the neighborhood and remove the remnants of an ugly xenophobic moment in the South Grove's history.
I first came here in the early '70's and never heard about keeping the West Grovites out by not haveing sidewalks, though maybe some felt that way. The idea was that they were not needed, because of the village feel, low car traffic on side streets and not having to deal with increased taxes and City of Miami hassles. That said it is now not safe to walk my dog on Loquat and many of the streets mentioned, had my dog killed by a car as I was standing right there. The worst offenders are the fast driving, often texting parents cutting through on the way to the schools which have tripled in size and registrations and just keep growing, people trying to avoid US1 and the larger homes with 2-4 cars per family. The streets are already narrow, if we add sidewalks and street parking on either side of the street, there will be less than one lane for a car to get through, we already experience that. Increased density and traffic are killing the Grove.
Cry babies. All new construction comes with sidewalks, period. Race is not the issue. Any human being over the age of about 8, who has not be trained by their parent(s), Grand Parents or nannie who needs to walk onto a roadway, anywhere in the world has an obligation to look this way, and then that way and if a vehicle or numerous vehicles are coming, then wait until it's safe, otherwise you may be injured or killed. Understand, if not then read again. Jobie Steppe
I agree that THE ABSOLUTE WORST OFFENDERS is the Carrollton and Ransom school traffic down the side roads: avocado, loquat, royal palm, palmetto. I run with my son in a stroller every other morning and I’ve almost been hit twice! Both with cars that had the Carrollton “C” on it. With the huge amount of school traffic down these side streets in the morning in afternoon, I would think Carrollton and Ransom would work together to to pay for police to monitor drivers on the streets. I personally believe that if the drivers know there are police officers monitoring their speed and full stops, they will be held accountable. Is there a way to get the schools involved and bring this to their attention? It IS very dangerous.
Emily Nolan. WHY would anyone expose their children to any situation, time & time again that they consider to be "very dangerous"? Don't you feel an obligation to protect your children from a danger you yourself acknowledge and are aware of? Imagine if your child was injured or worse, and you sued a driver who was obeying or careless under the law and the jury read your comment herein that you knew where you chose to run with your baby stroller was DANGEROUS. Where is your common sense? Why risk your child life?
To logical, try this. DANGEROUS. Take away suffix OUS. Add prefix EN. Now add suffix MENT and you have, under the law child ENDANGERMENT, as acknowledged "It IS very dangerous. Not rocket science, just plain old straight forward simple grammar. But, what the heck get those endorphins (morphine) pumping.
Tens of thousands, perhaps millions of people across the U.S., and millions more around the world wake up in the early A.M., as my wife does 3/4 times weekly and drives to different parks close to the Grove specifically to avoid early morning rush and its inherent danger. And in her group of about a hundred athletics are a dozen or so with children. A few run around a track with baby strollers, slightly older children and a few pets. What's missing in these parks & tracks are vehicles and the danger they represent to parent(s) with child who knowingly feel entitled to compete with people, on roadways & asphalt who put their petal to the metal and people are killed.
I love how everyone blames everyone else. It's These People fault or Those People. Stop fixing the blame and start fixing the problem.
The fact remains that everywhere else in The City of Miami you are forced by Public Works whenever you do new construction to build a sidewalk in front of your property. That's why when you walk through the Center Grove you see the sidewalk interrupted when you reach an older house that hasn't been renovated. When they renovate/replace that house, they will be made to install a sidewalk. I don't know how the South Grove has gotten away from not having to put them in but times are definitely changing, There are more walkers, joggers, kids, etc walking around the Village and sidewalks are definitely needed no matter who is driving the cars on the road.
That's very intuitive Anon 9:01. 1st how can you fix anything without identifying the problem and how & who or what causes a problem. 2'd so obvious yet it escaped your awareness and it involves blaming others. If sidewalks were installed throughout the Grove, check it out, people park on the sidewalks thoroughly completely everywhere forcing all pedestrians, those pushing baby carriages and walking their pets and children into all traffic everywhere. Hell, we've all seen law enforcement officers in a news video helping someone on a roadway clearly made obvious & surrounded by flashing blue & red lights, fire engines and wreckers when out of no where he's ran over or knocked into the next county. Who do you think responsible for the ice caps melting & sea rise? You & me, them, humanity, people, us. Multiply your lack of awareness times 7,500,000,000 people and only then can you contemplate the real problem.
Royal Palm, Palmetto, Avocado, and Loquat. These streets intersect with Douglas Rd and yes, for those who cross in the morning, a crosswalk or two would be extremely helpful. The traffic is fast and furious.
This is very insensitive. I was walking across a cross walk and a Carrollton mom ran a red light as she was texting while I was in a pedestrian cross walk with the right of way. Peace be with you.
There are lots of walkers and bike riders in the south grove. Actually one of the nice things about the south grove is that you can walk or bike to shops and restaurants. Unfortunately there are not enough crosswalks. The pic you posted is Hibiscus and Main Highway. It’s the only place you can cross with a light and it’s where we cross with our kids. Even though the placement is really bad. But it’s the only safer option.A lot of people don’t ride their bikes more because there is no safe way to get to the Grove. If you live in the Merrie Christmas park area, there is no crosswalk for Ingraham or Douglas. It would be great if there was more urban planning oriented towards walkers and bikers. That pic is a perfect example of bad planning, or no planning at all. I see a lot of young families walking around with strollers in the South Grove. There’ll be many more walkers and bike riders soon!! So, yes, definitely more crosswalks needed.
Post a Comment
<< Home