Sidewalks : Are They Really a Good Idea?

Here at the Office of Transportation, we get occasional feedback asking why we don’t do more to improve sidewalks in the area. A few presumably homeless people have sent us photos of sidewalks that are maybe not completely up to par, but should be okay for any able-bodied person with a bit of hiking experience. However, we do understand that the sidewalks could be smoother in some places. We get it. Stubbed toes and sprained ankles aren’t fun.

That said, we feel that it’s important to make a case for sidewalks being an overall threat to public safety, no matter how much they’re improved. We can hear the pedestrians already, screaming bloody murder, but hear us out.

Think with me for a moment about a road that has no sidewalks at all on it. Do you ever see people walking along roads like that? It’s very rare, right? Good. Now think about a road that has sidewalks. It’s more likely that people will walk there, right? Now add some benches, some trees, a few trash cans, and other amenities, and you’re practically encouraging people to come out in droves to the road, a place that is intended for cars. You have now created a situation that encourages pedestrians to cause accidents by trying to co-exist with cars, with the risk of years of emotional and property damage for the driver when they hit one of the couples having a date night at the covered bus stop you built or that family of four celebrating a birthday party at one of the traffic calming features you built in the name of “walkability.”

Roads are for cars, not people. Adding sidewalks to a street is like adding front row seats to a gun range. When you build sidewalks (or improve them), you are asking for trouble. We understand that not everyone may agree with this perspective, but we hope that we can all agree that sidewalk construction and improvement isn’t without its hidden dangers.