Wouldn’t these artsy crosswalks be perfect for the Pike District?

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Amy Ginsburg

1 Comment

How can we make it safer for pedestrians, brand the Pike District, and beautify our neighborhood with inexpensive paint, some creativity, and a bit of flexibility from MCDOT and SHA? With eye-catching crosswalks like these. It’s easy, it’s cheap, and it’s wonderful. I can’t imagine any reason why we wouldn’t we do this.

We could develop a color scheme that works for the White Flint area, hold a design contest, and allow the community to do the painting in between MCDOT/SHA’s standard white stripes. In one pretty swoop, we’d make crosswalks more visible, thereby increasing pedestrian safety, and bring a much-needed “wow” factor to our community. Seriously — why on earth would we not do this?

In his project, Funnycross, artist Christo Guelov brings Madrid crosswalks to life using colorful patterns

One Response to Wouldn’t these artsy crosswalks be perfect for the Pike District?

g.g. says: June 13, 2017 at 12:29 pm

Has there been any studies regarding their safety? It’s likely they’re distracting to drivers; they’d recognize the crosswalk easier, but their eyes would be dragged down to the pavement instead of looking somewhere useful.

I think the brick paver crosswalks, while somewhat more boring, do a better job giving visual cues to drivers to be alert while not being distracting.