COLUMN: NO SIDEWALK, BUT SAME PROBLEMS

Published Aug. 24, 2006 in "The Oklahoma Daily"
Viewable Online Here

"Where the Sidewalk Ends” is the title of a book of Shel Silverstein’s poetry. As of late, it’s also a good description of the western side of South Oval.

Where there was once a well-trodden sidewalk, there are now new patches of grass squares. The old asphalt has been completely redone, and all traffic is now to use the new surface.

Since that part of the oval has always been off limits to anything larger than a golf cart, all traffic there is either on foot, two wheels or the occasional golf cart.

While the new road surface is undoubtedly much improved, I am not so sure that it’s a good long-term traffic solution.

I hate to delve into the hard-science-major part of my brain and drag out quantitative comparisons so early on, but here, I must.

The old system of a sidewalk and the road simply had more usable surface area.

As the sidewalk in question was about 1,000 feet long (according to Google Maps) and most sidewalks are about four feet wide, 4,000 square feet of usable concrete have been done away with.

A less usable area means that traffic is more congested. This does not bode well, as traffic has not decreased at all.

In addition, not only did the old system have more space, it was better organized as well.

Most pedestrians, me included, used the sidewalk. Perhaps this was a result of the same innate mental guardian that makes me look both ways before crossing streets.

Whatever the reason, for the most part, cyclists had the road surface to themselves and this worked out well.

Pedestrians could travel at a comfortable pace, and not have to worry about bikes bearing down on them. Bike riders, in turn, could travel faster without having to look out for oblivious pedestrians blocking their path.

That’s no more. The more spacious, better organized South Oval of old has been turned into one all-purpose thoroughfare. This freshly-resurfaced, single swath of concrete is now used by all forms of traffic. Based on first-hand observations over the past few days, this is less than ideal.

The fault for this, though, rests on no single group.

Many pedestrians see the new road as one giant sidewalk, and feel free to walk in groups of five or six abreast in the middle of the road. This effectively blocks most of the road for any bikes and the ubiquitous opening-week golf carts.

Some of those vehicle operators, however, feel that the new road is solely their domain. This results in high-speed runs and weaving maneuvers worthy of the Tour de France. Keep in mind, though, there are no pedestrians on the course of the actual Tour — and for very good reason.

So where does that leave us, the bikers and pedestrians of South Oval?

I would say that the old layout was a much better one. However, we can’t undo what has already been done, so we’re stuck with the new road. I wouldn’t really recommend simply using the other side of the oval — unless you particularly enjoy dodging buses and inhaling diesel fumes.

So, the thing to do seems to simply heed the advice of many a crossing guard and elementary school hall monitor: watch out for other people.

If you prefer walking, think of those on bikes. Keep in mind that it is much easier and safer for you to stop and turn on your feet than someone balancing on two thin tires and a bunch of metal tubes. There’s a good reason that bike helmets have been invented and walking helmets have not.

If you’d rather pedal, then keep in mind that most pedestrians want to you to crash into them just as much as you want yourself to crash into them. They’ll move out of you way given proper warning, especially from behind.

We all have to conscientiously share and use this newfangled path, whether we like it or not. So do just that — share the road. And spread the love.