Therapist-in-chief
This summer it became clear that the relationship between drivers and stop signs in Oak Lawn, Ill., was strained. While the stop signs used to be treated with respect, many motorists were now just ignoring them, driving by without so much as a glance.
Fortunately, Mayor Dave Heilmann knew exactly what grabs a wayward partner’s attention: cosmetic enhancement.
In September, the mayor had small signs installed underneath 50 stop signs throughout the city. These new signs complimented the original stop signs with humorous messages like “AND SMELL THE ROSES” and “IN THE NAAAAME OF LOVE” intended to amuse, endear and hopefully persuade.
Of course, the mayor’s decision didn’t come without controversy. Some residents feel that the new signs will make it hard for motorists to take stop signs seriously. Others say they just prefer their signs more natural.
Anarchy in the streets
The German town of Bohmte is taking the exact opposite approach to traffic safety. Instead of adding signs, they’re removing them. In fact, this summer they completely did away with traffic signs, stoplights and even sidewalks. All in the name of safety.
The concept, called “shared space,” was developed by Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman. The idea is that if drivers and pedestrians don’t have signs or rules to rely on, they will be forced to take responsibility for their own safety. If it sounds dangerous, it is, and that’s by design. Drivers slow down and pay more attention out of sheer terror, and that makes everyone on the road safer.
Shared space was first implemented in the small Dutch town of Drachten in 2003. Signs, lights and road markings were removed, and major intersections were replaced with roundabouts. Since then, serious accidents and road fatalities have been replaced with minor fender benders. The town also has seen a huge decline in traffic jams, as well as a surge in bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
Unfortunate choice of words
A new streetcar line in Seattle isn’t even running yet, and it already has a bad reputation.
The South Lake Union Streetcar is adding a new line in the Cascade neighborhood, where locals like to refer to it as the “South Lake Union Trolley”—or the, well, let’s just say it’s an acronym that spells out a word commonly used to describe flirtatious women.
Representatives of Vulcan Inc., the company developing the area, insist that the unfortunate nickname was not an oversight on their part. It was the locals who took the otherwise harmless SLUS and turned it into the, yes, you guessed it.
The newly named trolley system has really become popular around town. In fact, a local coffee shop sold out of a line of T-shirts that celebrated the clever title in just a matter of days.
Behind all the joking, however, there’s actually a little resentment from residents.
“There was a meeting with representatives from the city several years ago,” Cascade resident Jerry Johnson, 29, told the Associated Press (AP). “They asked us, ‘What could we do for you?’ Most people raised their hands and said, ‘Affordable housing,’” Johnson said. “Then the people from the city huddled together—‘whisper, whisper, whisper’—and they said, ‘How about a trolley?’”
Residents then noticed that Vulcan sales brochures didn’t even recognize the Cascade neighborhood, instead lumping it together with Denny Park and Denny Triangle under the collective title of South Lake Union.
So as Don Clifton, another Cascade resident, told the AP, when it came to the streetcar, “we learned how fun it is to change the name of things.”
