Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Ann Street now oneway in front of City Hall

Ann Street - between Division and 5th Ave - has changed into a one-way street. This was a recent change to extend the one-way nature of the street from 5th Ave to Zina Pitcher (in the medical campus). These pictures are from last month, but in deciding to take a (short) break from writing, I decided to post these shots of a non-snowy Ann Arbor with a new oneway section of street.

Portions of Ann Street that are oneway. (Only a few more blocks to add to the scheme!)
  
The first warning sign for motorists. (Gotta like the flags.) I wonder how long this will be up, though.
 I can understand the "No left" sign on the left side of Division, but what's up with that one on the right? Do they really think people are going to make a left-turn from the right lane, across two lanes of traffic?
  
As a cyclist, I like that they extended the bike lane from Main Street, but it ends here. (And it is apparently one-way also.)
I wonder how good people will be in following these instructions while also remaining between the parking lines.


I wonder about the sense of having the bike lane on the right side of the street. I can see someone pealing out of their parknig space (since they are faced the correct direction to begin with), not see a cyclist coming down the street, and plow into that person at full acceleration. Of course, the police station is right there, too, so this type of action might be subliminaly moderated. However, a cyclist might well be hit when an incompetent driver is trying perform a maneuver that he or she has only seen done on a green sign in their rear-view mirror to back into the space.

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