When the Chicken Doesn't Dare Cross the Road: No matter where you live, sometimes it's nice to take a quick walk to the store or run an errand by foot on a nice day. One blog, however, says t...here are too many streets in the United States where that isn't possible.
Streetsblog, a site covering urban life, asked its readers to identify the worst streets in America to have to cross. After detailing a few of its own suggestions, where pedestrians in such common situations as wanting to get to a restaurant from a motel or snack while shopping had walks of nearly a mile and a half, readers suggested eight more streets from all over the country where wanting to get to the other side could be hazardous to your health.
One of the worst, Streetsblog says, is in Burlington, Mass., where crossing a street to get from a movie theater to a mall requires a 1.2-mile trip. Adding to the challenge: Only one side of the street has a sidewalk.
Also highlighted was a stretch of 2nd St. in Laurel, Md., that has bus stops but no crosswalks, forcing pedestrians to go more than half a mile out of their way. Nashville, Tenn., requires a similar distance of bus riders at Gallatin Pike and Williams Ave., who have to walk a quarter-mile south to Old Hickory Blvd. and back. And while crossing one part of Capitol Blvd. in Boise, Idaho, requires a diversion of only one-third of a mile, pedestrians must still cross 20 lanes of traffic.
Other poorly planned crossings include Kansas City, Mo., where an apartment complex straddling NW Vivion Road requires a one-mile trip; Phoenix's West Indian School Road, where crossing the street outside Phoenix Christian Elementary School means a half-mile detour; Big Beaver Road in Troy, Mich., with a half-mile detour; and Pleasantdale Road in Atlanta, where pedestrians must hike three-quarters of a mile.
Streetsblog writer Angie Schmitt noted that readers' nominations for uncrossable streets near limited-access highways were eliminated for being outside the scope of the competition but said one such street crossing required a seven-mile detour. Source: "A Crosswalk Too Far: Vote for the Least Crossable Street in America," Streetsblog (May 19, 2014
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