Shown: Three crossing guards on 17th and Eye, NW. Picture taken by a cell phone at approximately 1:45pm on Thursday, February 28.
Not Shown: The other four crossing guards manning the intersection at the exact same time.
Also Not Shown: The traffic signals doing the same exact job as the seven crossing guards.
The only intersections where I've seen traffic conditions improved by crossing guards are 14th and K (by Franklin Square) and 17th and K (by Farragut Square). And in both of examples, I have never seen more than two crossing guards in one intersection at once. So seven of them was especially noteworthy.
But I guess seven people doing the same amount of work that could be accomplished by zero is an interesting and novel approach to fixing DC's unemployment crisis.
They probably do a decent job of preventing gridlock. And I'm surprised the pavement at 18th and I isn't smeared with the blood of pedestrians crossing against the light, so they must be preventing that.
ReplyDeleteWhy they're needed at 2 in the afternoon is beyond me.
Seven?? For cryin out loud. What the hell is wrong with this place.
ReplyDeleteI work a block away from this. granted, 7 crossing guards is a little much. However, apparently most pedestrians who use that intersection don't realize the "Don't Walk" signal means "Don't Walk." As a result cars can't make the left turn on to I st from 17th st because they have to wait for the pedestrians to cross. You also have gridlock coming down I st as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat pisses me off is when it is barely raining and the crossing guards have decided that the weather is too much for them to handle.
I have railed against crossing guards in the past. Not only do I think they are frequently a waste, they can actually cause problems because they sometimes tell you to act in a way contrary to what the light says. This is just idiotic and will inevitably result in either an accident or the death of a crossing guard.
ReplyDeleteIt's part of the typical DC policy of over-reaction to a non-problem, in this case the idea that we have a huge increase in pedestrian mortality rates. Which is not supported by the statistics, of course, but once there's a media frenzy around something, never mind reality: DC is always happy to put a public relations band-aid on the problem to shut people up. Even when that band-aid causes more problems than it solves.
More often than not, the ones at K and Connecticut seem to be standing around, 3 on a corner. I think they generally help when they are actually directly traffic (which is rare), but in addition to doing a lot of standing around, they're also really, really rude.
ReplyDeleteSeven people standing in the intersection...hell, that's a metrobus-pedestrian mashup just waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteI've been staying this for months. It's absolutely ridiculous. Instead of paying 7 crossing guards who cost the District money and do the same work as the FREE lights, why not just hire 2 cops to write out tickets to pedestrians and cars violating the law. Then you're making money AND providing employment.
ReplyDeletePeople will learn in a hurry to follow what the lights are saying.
gridlock is no laughing matter.
ReplyDelete"Instead of paying 7 crossing guards who cost the District money and do the same work as the FREE lights, why not just hire 2 cops to write out tickets to pedestrians and cars violating the law."
ReplyDeleteI guess you missed the wailing and gnashing of teeth a few years ago, when DC cops were actually writing jaywalking tickets.
Oooh I was at that intersection on Friday and one of those guards seriously pissed me off. I stepped into the cross walk at 11, about 1 second before the "don't walk" signal started flashing. When it was at 7 the guard told me to wait. In the middle of the street. So I did. No cars were turning. At 4 he said "OK, go no. Hurry up! You have to look at the signal, people!"
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what he thought he was doing. I've never thought that pedestrians in the middle of the street had to yield to cars turning right (not that were any).
These traffic officers are generally rude idiots who have no idea what they are doing. One at 17 and K the other morning was waving for cars to turn right into the crowded crosswalk. They rarely stop cars and busses from pulling into the intersection on yellow lights when there's no room on the other side, so there positive effect on gridlock is negligible.
ReplyDeleteGRIMLOCK NO LIKE GRIDLOCK
ReplyDelete