One of the most popular tourist attractions in San Francisco is Lombard Street, the “Crookedest Street in the World.” But crooked streets may start becoming more common, as suburbs try to slow drivers down.
There’s a street in the Philadelphia area that has a new ZIG-ZAGGING pattern. The road itself isn’t different, but the lines were re-painted so that the lanes are wavy. Both the double yellow line in the middle, along with the white edge-lines.
There’s a sign warning drivers of the “new pattern,” and the idea is that this will SLOW PEOPLE DOWN. But the locals are confused.
Police say neighbors were complaining about people driving too fast, and apparently, this “traffic calming measure” was the fix.
They say, “Our traffic engineers have determined that this is the best course of action for the area to ensure the safety of the local residents.”
Locals are not impressed. They’re calling it “ridiculous,” “awkward,” “weird,” and “an eyesore.” And even worse, it might not even work. One person says, “I mean, right now, everyone is just driving through the middle of it.”
Others have wondered why THIS was the solution, instead of speed bumps, signs, or flashing lights. But it looks like the zig-zag is sticking around, at least for now.
(You can see photos, here and here.)
(The “zig-zag” patterns look TOO tight, so even if a driver does slow down, they’re probably not going to bother sharply weaving in and out to stay between the lines.)
(Interesting Fact: Lombard Street isn’t just painted crooked, it was re-designed to be curvy to make the hill less steep. Lombard had a natural 27% grade. And coincidentally, San Francisco’s surveyor named that street after Lombard Street in Philadelphia, not far from this new zig-zagging road.)
(CBS News)
