Q: On Pleasant Street behind West High School, why does the crosswalk get painted up from the parking lot entrance by the ball diamonds when nearly every student takes the more direct route down from the entrance? I’m guessing there is some guideline about placement of crosswalks, but it seems silly to keep trying to force the use there.
A: Anyone driving on that stretch of Pleasant when school lets out each afternoon knows about the herds of teenagers eagerly escaping to their vehicles — none of them using the designated crosswalk.
The reason is obvious, particularly considering who is using that particular parking lot — by far the most distant of West High’s parking options.
The lot is informally known as The Sophomore Lot because the seniors and juniors scoop up the more convenient parking spots immediately in front of and behind the school. The 10th-graders have to trudge about a quarter of a mile south past the football field and track.
When they get to Pleasant Street, the sophomores — fresh from their geometry lessons — know the shortest distance between two points. And it is not via the crosswalk.
Trying to force them to go farther is pointless, as everyone knows if they’ve read “Pedestrian Crossings: Uncontrolled Locations,” a 2014 report by the Research Services Section of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The MnDOT Research Services Section wasn’t suggesting West High sophomores in particular are stubborn. They were talking about people in general.
“If pedestrians are already crossing at a location, they are unlikely to choose to cross at another location unless it is shorter, regardless of safety,” the report states. “It is important to provide crossings at locations where pedestrians are already crossing, or consider creating physical barriers if safety can be achieved and direction to a nearby crossing is provided.”
Karl Keel, Mankato’s interim director of public works, agreed that the crosswalk isn’t well located.
“I expect that this crosswalk pre-dated the construction of the parking lot driveway and was re-used rather than abandoned and new curb cuts constructed at the new location,” Keel said. “It makes sense to consider moving this crosswalk when concrete work is being done in this area.”
There is one other possible explanation for why the crosswalk was placed west of where pedestrians are actually traveling. There’s a short concrete wall that runs parallel to the sidewalk on the north side of Pleasant Street, and the wall ends right where the crosswalk is placed. But the sophomores barely notice the wall, leaping over it like squirrels on their direct path to the parking lot.
And, of course, there’s genuine debate about whether crosswalks in the absence of signal lights have any real value, something that’s actually mentioned in the city of Mankato’s official crosswalk policy adopted in 2011.
“Marked crosswalks are viewed as ‘safety devices’ and pedestrians have the right of way within them. There is strong evidence that this fact prompts many pedestrians to feel overly secure when using a marked crosswalk,” the policy notes. “As a result, pedestrians will often place themselves in a hazardous position by believing that a motorist can and will stop in all cases, even when it may be impossible to do so. In contrast, a pedestrian using an unmarked crosswalk generally feels less secure and less certain that motorists will stop and will, therefore, exercise more caution before crossing.”
In Ask Us Guy’s experience, the sophomores crossing Pleasant Street at their unofficial crossing point don’t assume that vehicles will stop. Unlike squirrels, the sophomores seem to recognize the danger that cars represent.
He’s also noticed most drivers give the kids the right-of-way even if the law states otherwise — that walkers have to wait for drivers when crossing without a crosswalk.
Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.