How Kansas City uses street art to improve pedestrian safety - The Beacon

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The four-way intersection at Westport Road and Wyandotte Street in Kansas City, Missouri, with a small branch library on one corner and a post office on another, is an eye-catcher for pedestrians and motorists.

Extended from each curb corner is a painted mural covering the otherwise ordinary city street. Planters and short posts are placed at the edges of the murals, a few feet from the curb.

Crossing that intersection feels safer now for midtown resident Austin Strassle than it did a few years ago — when the crossing was only a two-way stop and there were no murals or planters on the asphalt.

“I’ve noticed a marked, really significant difference in the speed of traffic and people being more mindful of their environment around them, which I think is the intended purpose of these installations,” Strassle said.

Link: 

How Kansas City uses street art to improve pedestrian safety - The Beacon

MoBikeFed comment: This makes us think back to a few years ago, when St Louis City banned similar decorative crosswalks.

It was such a sad situation, after caring neighbors had spent so much time and work making something that was both a beautiful addition to the neighborhood and effective in increasing pedestrian safety.

Engineers too often forget that it's not just about meeting cut and dry engineering standards. The connection people feel with the place they live, walk, and drive can be just as important if not more so. And projects like this really create a deep connection with the neighborhoods we live in and visit.

Our streets and neighborhoods are more than just an engineered environment.

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