There’s a new walkway crossing Main Street, connecting Maple Mulberry Glen with Sentry’s parking lot. It’s a good idea, and a small but useful civic improvement. We were right to place a similar walkway near the university. (UPDATE, 6:02 p.m. — I have no idea why I originally wrote Maple Glen for Mulberry Glen. Our town’s complex is called Mulberry; Maple Glen — wherever it may be — is a matter for others to consider.)
Motorists who wish to race past Whitewater may do so, via the bypass. Those driving along Main Street are more likely to have a local destination, and consequently be driving more slowly. Nonetheless, the street near Wal-Mart is stark, and looks fundamentally commercial; it’s an invitation to drive more quickly. The crosswalk is a useful, visible reminder that this stretch along Main includes several apartments, and that motorists should exercise caution as tenants might be crossing the street.
(The crosswalk accomplishes far more than stationing a patrol car near the Hawk Motel to catch speeders. The patrol car only serves to deter those it pulls over, and those who observe the subsequent ticketing. By the nature of the task, the officer and car are partially obscured for the assignment, and will eventually leave away when the task ends, or when boredom and banality take their toll.)
The crosswalk is an ever-present reminder that pedestrian-tenant are in the area, and also guides them on a path to take across Main Street.