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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 1, 2023
Ombre West usually takes the Yellow Line as part of her commute to Oakton Community College in Skokie. But the train line has been shut down since a crash on the tracks sent nearly two dozen people to hospitals, leaving West and other commuters to rely on replacement shuttle buses or alternate ways of getting around.
West, 20, estimated the shuttles have added an hour to her trip from her home in Evanston to school in the neighboring suburb.
More than two weeks after the mid-November crash on the tracks, the three-stop line that runs from Rogers Park to Skokie, also known as the Skokie Swift, remains closed as federal regulators investigate CTA equipment design and outside conditions, and the CTA reviews operations on the line.
The closure has frustrated commutes for riders trying to get to their homes, work and school, who instead must rely on the free shuttle buses the CTA is running to replace train service, or find other transportation. And it has left questions for riders and those who were injured about why the train failed to stop before slamming into a snowplow on the tracks, and whether the crash could have been prevented. ..................(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/53079547/il-cta-yellow-line-remains-closed-two-weeks-after-crash-as-investigation-continues
Chicago CTA: Yellow Line remains closed two weeks after crash, as investigation continues
Ombre West usually takes the Yellow Line as part of her commute to Oakton Community College in Skokie. But the train line has been shut down since a crash on the tracks sent nearly two dozen people to hospitals, leaving West and other commuters to rely on replacement shuttle buses or alternate ways of getting around.
West, 20, estimated the shuttles have added an hour to her trip from her home in Evanston to school in the neighboring suburb.
More than two weeks after the mid-November crash on the tracks, the three-stop line that runs from Rogers Park to Skokie, also known as the Skokie Swift, remains closed as federal regulators investigate CTA equipment design and outside conditions, and the CTA reviews operations on the line.
The closure has frustrated commutes for riders trying to get to their homes, work and school, who instead must rely on the free shuttle buses the CTA is running to replace train service, or find other transportation. And it has left questions for riders and those who were injured about why the train failed to stop before slamming into a snowplow on the tracks, and whether the crash could have been prevented. ..................(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/53079547/il-cta-yellow-line-remains-closed-two-weeks-after-crash-as-investigation-continues
December 1, 2023
The violence is Trump's goal
It is both the means as well as the goal of Trump's fascist political project
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 1, 2023 5:45AM (EST)
(Salon) Today’s Republican Party is a de facto political crime organization. And although he is now facing hundreds of years in prison and the loss of his business empire, Donald Trump remains the Big Boss. He rules through fear, intimidation, and the threat (and reality) of violence. For a recent example, those Republicans who dared to oppose Trump’s choice for Speaker of the House found out very quickly that such behavior would be met with intimidation and violence.
....(snip)....
Salon’s Tatyana Tandanpolie summarizes Trump’s recent attacks as follows:
....(snip)....
Trump has even been so bold as to amplify a post made on Truth Social “fantasizing” about a “citizen’s arrest” of Judge Erdogan and New York Attorney General Tish James for the “crime” of holding him accountable for under the law. For Trump, “citizen’s arrest” means violence and other harm. Trump, now in full mob boss mode, has escalated to harassing Judge Erdogan’s wife.
....(snip)....
In reality, this behavior is part of a much larger strategy and goal by the Republican fascists and larger “conservative” movement and white right of ending American democracy and civil society by undermining the rule of law and replacing it with corrupt power. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2023/12/01/the-violence-is-goal/
The violence is Trump's goal
The violence is Trump's goal
It is both the means as well as the goal of Trump's fascist political project
By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 1, 2023 5:45AM (EST)
(Salon) Today’s Republican Party is a de facto political crime organization. And although he is now facing hundreds of years in prison and the loss of his business empire, Donald Trump remains the Big Boss. He rules through fear, intimidation, and the threat (and reality) of violence. For a recent example, those Republicans who dared to oppose Trump’s choice for Speaker of the House found out very quickly that such behavior would be met with intimidation and violence.
....(snip)....
Salon’s Tatyana Tandanpolie summarizes Trump’s recent attacks as follows:
The office of the New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's civil fraud trial has received an onslaught of death threats and antisemitic abuse in the wake of the former president's online attacks.
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron and his principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield have been bombarded with hundreds of threatening, harassing and disparaging telephone and social media messages, according to a new court filing reported by The Guardian. New York state court system attorneys in the filing argued for the imposition of gag orders on Trump, citing the “serious and credible” threats against Engoron and Greenfield.
Transcribed voicemails, which were disclosed in the filing, exposed the extent of the vitriol directed at the duo. Several death threats came alongside racist and sexist attacks. “I mean, honestly, you should be assassinated,” one said. “You should be killed. You should be not assassin executed [sic]. You should be executed.”
“Resign now, you dirty, treasonous piece of trash snake. We are going to get you and anyone of you dirty, backstabbing, lying, cheating American. You are nothing but a bunch of communists. We are coming to remove you permanently," said another.
....(snip)....
Trump has even been so bold as to amplify a post made on Truth Social “fantasizing” about a “citizen’s arrest” of Judge Erdogan and New York Attorney General Tish James for the “crime” of holding him accountable for under the law. For Trump, “citizen’s arrest” means violence and other harm. Trump, now in full mob boss mode, has escalated to harassing Judge Erdogan’s wife.
....(snip)....
In reality, this behavior is part of a much larger strategy and goal by the Republican fascists and larger “conservative” movement and white right of ending American democracy and civil society by undermining the rule of law and replacing it with corrupt power. ................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2023/12/01/the-violence-is-goal/
December 1, 2023
George Santos gets one thing right about Republicans: Their expulsion vote is "theater"
Whatever happens to the New York congressman, Republicans are still a party of grifters and con artists
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 1, 2023 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. is probably not winning that Oscar, but it's not for a lack of trying. With the enthusiasm of a drag queen channeling Joan Crawford, the embattled GOP congressman has given us three over-the-top performances of outrage over the possibility that he could become the sixth person ever to be expelled from Congress. Last week, facing growing pressure from Republicans after his 23 felony indictments for fraud, Santos refused to resign in a 3-hour diatribe on X-Spaces. Insisting that Congress has "felons galore" who get "drunk every night," Santos argued that he is being unfairly singled out and compared himself to Mary Magdalene. Then on Thursday morning, he held a self-pitying press conference, accusing his colleagues of "bullying" him by planning to hold a vote on whether to expel him, likely on Friday.
"It's all theater," he raved.
....(snip)....
Santos is almost certainly faking his umbrage. He's well aware that, in addition to the federal charges against him, the House investigation found "substantial evidence" that he stole campaign donations and spent them on designer clothes, Botox injections, and OnlyFans. Plus, he has a history of using the tactic of wildly exaggerated rage to intimidate people out of asking questions about his alleged fraud. In the case where Santos is accused of using a sick dog to raise money, only to abscond with the cash, the dog's owner claims Santos blew up at him when asked about the promised veterinary care. Basically, Santos screamed at the guy until his alleged victim gave up. Wielding fake anger like a weapon is unlikely to work in this case, though what do I know? Donald Trump uses the same move to keep Republicans in line quite effectively.
But as silly as this display was, in one small sense, Santos is right: If Republicans do move to expel him, it's nothing more than theater. Republicans don't care if one of their own is a fraud or a criminal. The most obvious example is Trump, whose indictment count sits at 91 charges across four jurisdictions, making Santos look like a piker. And that's not even counting the financial crimes Trump has committed. Trump is currently in a civil trial regarding his decades of fraud. The judge has already ruled that he's guilty in that case, and the only real question left is how serious the penalties will be. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2023/12/01/george-santos-gets-one-thing-right-about-republicans-their-expulsion-vote-is-theater/
George Santos gets one thing right about Republicans: Their expulsion vote is "theater"
George Santos gets one thing right about Republicans: Their expulsion vote is "theater"
Whatever happens to the New York congressman, Republicans are still a party of grifters and con artists
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 1, 2023 6:00AM (EST)
(Salon) Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. is probably not winning that Oscar, but it's not for a lack of trying. With the enthusiasm of a drag queen channeling Joan Crawford, the embattled GOP congressman has given us three over-the-top performances of outrage over the possibility that he could become the sixth person ever to be expelled from Congress. Last week, facing growing pressure from Republicans after his 23 felony indictments for fraud, Santos refused to resign in a 3-hour diatribe on X-Spaces. Insisting that Congress has "felons galore" who get "drunk every night," Santos argued that he is being unfairly singled out and compared himself to Mary Magdalene. Then on Thursday morning, he held a self-pitying press conference, accusing his colleagues of "bullying" him by planning to hold a vote on whether to expel him, likely on Friday.
"It's all theater," he raved.
....(snip)....
Santos is almost certainly faking his umbrage. He's well aware that, in addition to the federal charges against him, the House investigation found "substantial evidence" that he stole campaign donations and spent them on designer clothes, Botox injections, and OnlyFans. Plus, he has a history of using the tactic of wildly exaggerated rage to intimidate people out of asking questions about his alleged fraud. In the case where Santos is accused of using a sick dog to raise money, only to abscond with the cash, the dog's owner claims Santos blew up at him when asked about the promised veterinary care. Basically, Santos screamed at the guy until his alleged victim gave up. Wielding fake anger like a weapon is unlikely to work in this case, though what do I know? Donald Trump uses the same move to keep Republicans in line quite effectively.
But as silly as this display was, in one small sense, Santos is right: If Republicans do move to expel him, it's nothing more than theater. Republicans don't care if one of their own is a fraud or a criminal. The most obvious example is Trump, whose indictment count sits at 91 charges across four jurisdictions, making Santos look like a piker. And that's not even counting the financial crimes Trump has committed. Trump is currently in a civil trial regarding his decades of fraud. The judge has already ruled that he's guilty in that case, and the only real question left is how serious the penalties will be. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2023/12/01/george-santos-gets-one-thing-right-about-republicans-their-expulsion-vote-is-theater/
December 1, 2023
There’s no proof that Kentucky Christians are being persecuted — and yet many seem determined to believe otherwise.
Nov. 30, 2023, 5:34 PM EST
By Teri Carter
(MSNBC) Here in Kentucky, we have reached a new low in white Christian nationalist politics.
Barely a week after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear decisively won re-election in our deep-red state, parents Brad and Stacy Briscoe marched their teenage daughter to the front of an Anderson County Schools Board meeting — and effectively outed her.
Hundreds packed that Nov. 13 board meeting, held less than 15 miles from the state Capitol. They came, they said in speech after speech, to support the Briscoes, who had filed a complaint stating that their daughter was groomed by a school counselor, and to demand the superintendent and counselor be fired.
“The counselor acted inappropriately by encouraging the student to seek a legal consultation regarding emancipation without her parents’ knowledge or consent,” according to the Lexington Herald Leader’s summary of the complaint. “In February, the student told her parents that she and her female classmate were in a romantic relationship and had been since the fall of 2022. The Briscoes expressed to (their daughter) their strong opposition to homosexuality, which was based upon convictions derived from their Christian faith.” (The Briscoes, reports the Herald Leader, “insist that the reason for the daughter’s punishment was her dishonesty with her parents, not her sexuality.”) ..............(more)
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kentucky-anderson-county-school-board-christian-nationalism-rcna127149
Kentucky reaches a new low in white Christian nationalism
Kentucky reaches a new low in white Christian nationalismThere’s no proof that Kentucky Christians are being persecuted — and yet many seem determined to believe otherwise.
Nov. 30, 2023, 5:34 PM EST
By Teri Carter
(MSNBC) Here in Kentucky, we have reached a new low in white Christian nationalist politics.
Barely a week after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear decisively won re-election in our deep-red state, parents Brad and Stacy Briscoe marched their teenage daughter to the front of an Anderson County Schools Board meeting — and effectively outed her.
Hundreds packed that Nov. 13 board meeting, held less than 15 miles from the state Capitol. They came, they said in speech after speech, to support the Briscoes, who had filed a complaint stating that their daughter was groomed by a school counselor, and to demand the superintendent and counselor be fired.
“The counselor acted inappropriately by encouraging the student to seek a legal consultation regarding emancipation without her parents’ knowledge or consent,” according to the Lexington Herald Leader’s summary of the complaint. “In February, the student told her parents that she and her female classmate were in a romantic relationship and had been since the fall of 2022. The Briscoes expressed to (their daughter) their strong opposition to homosexuality, which was based upon convictions derived from their Christian faith.” (The Briscoes, reports the Herald Leader, “insist that the reason for the daughter’s punishment was her dishonesty with her parents, not her sexuality.”) ..............(more)
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kentucky-anderson-county-school-board-christian-nationalism-rcna127149
November 30, 2023
(Guardian UK) The US supreme court is on the verge of being dragged back into the abortion wars.
Eighteen months after the court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to abortion, the state of Idaho, represented by the conservative legal powerhouse the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), has asked the nation’s highest court to allow a law that penalizes abortion providers. The state is requesting that the court halt a federal court decision finding that Idaho’s ban conflicts with government rules governing the provision of emergency care.
Justice Elena Kagan has asked for additional briefing in the case by Thursday afternoon. The justices may rule anytime after that.
Idaho has implemented a near-total abortion ban that only permits abortion to save the life of a pregnant woman. Doctors have said that this kind of language is too vague and ignores the complex reality of pregnancy; in practice, they say, exceptions like Idaho’s force them to wait and watch until patients become sick enough for doctors to legally intervene, imperiling their long-term health and even risking their lives. .........(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/30/idaho-punish-abortion-provider-supreme-court
Idaho asks supreme court to decide on law penalizing abortion providers
(Guardian UK) The US supreme court is on the verge of being dragged back into the abortion wars.
Eighteen months after the court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to abortion, the state of Idaho, represented by the conservative legal powerhouse the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), has asked the nation’s highest court to allow a law that penalizes abortion providers. The state is requesting that the court halt a federal court decision finding that Idaho’s ban conflicts with government rules governing the provision of emergency care.
Justice Elena Kagan has asked for additional briefing in the case by Thursday afternoon. The justices may rule anytime after that.
Idaho has implemented a near-total abortion ban that only permits abortion to save the life of a pregnant woman. Doctors have said that this kind of language is too vague and ignores the complex reality of pregnancy; in practice, they say, exceptions like Idaho’s force them to wait and watch until patients become sick enough for doctors to legally intervene, imperiling their long-term health and even risking their lives. .........(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/30/idaho-punish-abortion-provider-supreme-court
November 30, 2023
A Florida man was arrested Sunday after stabbing a woman in an unprovoked attack at a Walgreens, according to deputies.
An arrest document from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said at about 2:05 p.m., deputies were dispatched to a Walgreens on Airport Road South in Naples for a reported battery.
According to investigators, a woman was heading back to her car when she spotted Kenneth Bryan, 34, of Naples, following her out of her peripheral vision.
The woman tried to walk faster to get to her car, but before she could get to safety, Bryan grabbed her and stabbed her twice in the back with a 5-inch serrated knife, deputies said. At the time, the victim initially thought the suspect was punching her. A Walgreens employee who witnessed the attack then called for help. ...........................(more)
https://www.wesh.com/article/naples-walgreens-stabbing/45975558#
Man says he followed, stabbed woman in Walgreens parking lot 'because I wanted to'
A Florida man was arrested Sunday after stabbing a woman in an unprovoked attack at a Walgreens, according to deputies.
An arrest document from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said at about 2:05 p.m., deputies were dispatched to a Walgreens on Airport Road South in Naples for a reported battery.
According to investigators, a woman was heading back to her car when she spotted Kenneth Bryan, 34, of Naples, following her out of her peripheral vision.
The woman tried to walk faster to get to her car, but before she could get to safety, Bryan grabbed her and stabbed her twice in the back with a 5-inch serrated knife, deputies said. At the time, the victim initially thought the suspect was punching her. A Walgreens employee who witnessed the attack then called for help. ...........................(more)
https://www.wesh.com/article/naples-walgreens-stabbing/45975558#
November 30, 2023
Kristina Karamo sidelines critics amid Michigan GOP revolt
LANSING — Michigan Republican Party Chair Kristina Karamo has removed top critics from party committees as she fights against a growing effort to remove her from the leadership post by the end of the year.
“This is an attempt to punish her perceived enemies,” said Ian Shetron, a Flushing Republican who was dumped from his policy committee post days after publicly acknowledging he signed a petition calling for Karamo’s ouster.
“It serves a strategic purpose as well for her aims for the state committee, but it does seem pretty targeted at people who have expressed criticism of the chair and other members of the administration,” Shetron told Bridge Michigan. ...........(more)
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/kristina-karamo-sidelines-critics-amid-michigan-gop-revolt
Make sure you send Kristina Karamo a thank you card.......
..... for ensuring maximum chaos under the Michigan GOP circus tent.
Kristina Karamo sidelines critics amid Michigan GOP revolt
LANSING — Michigan Republican Party Chair Kristina Karamo has removed top critics from party committees as she fights against a growing effort to remove her from the leadership post by the end of the year.
“This is an attempt to punish her perceived enemies,” said Ian Shetron, a Flushing Republican who was dumped from his policy committee post days after publicly acknowledging he signed a petition calling for Karamo’s ouster.
“It serves a strategic purpose as well for her aims for the state committee, but it does seem pretty targeted at people who have expressed criticism of the chair and other members of the administration,” Shetron told Bridge Michigan. ...........(more)
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/kristina-karamo-sidelines-critics-amid-michigan-gop-revolt
November 30, 2023
Trump is afraid of a rematch
He’s destined to fail — but Trump still may not even be in the race next year
By BRIAN KAREM
Columnist
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 30, 2023 9:00AM (EST)
(Salon) Exactly one year from now, we will all be gathered for Thanksgiving. In addition to the traditional thanks offered for family, friends and loved ones, how many will be thankful for the outcome of the 2024 presidential election – which will be just three weeks in the rearview mirror?
Among those trying to become their party’s nominee, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump appear to have the inside trackt to set up a rematch of the 2020 election. Should Trump lose, he’ll obviously claim it was the work of those involved in dastardly deeds against the country and he was the victim. We are likely to see more violence and more bloodshed in a country that bathes in it. Sometimes it is nearly impossible to believe that everyone alive was the sperm that won the race.
....(snip)....
There are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who want to make sure Trump never comes back to power. It isn’t, as Trump claims, because he’s been “hounded by political wolves,” it is merely that Trump is a truly loathsome human being. He has no class, no tolerance, nothing of joy is derived by him unless it is at the expense of others. Those who’ve had the misfortune of being associated with him in anything from friendship to kinship end up grease for the engine, grist for the mill, and are run over by the Trump bus.
....(snip)....
If it comes down to Biden vs. Trump, I doubt there is little reason for those other than the diehard Trump fans to vote for a man who talks openly about dismantling the Constitution. The question is, can Biden energize the rest of the country out of their stupor and vote next year? I understand Biden’s belief that he should run again, but I’m really concerned about the future of both parties. What in the Hell happens even two years from now? Who is the future for the Democrats and Republicans? ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2023/11/30/is-afraid-of-a-rematch/
Trump is afraid of a rematch
Trump is afraid of a rematch
He’s destined to fail — but Trump still may not even be in the race next year
By BRIAN KAREM
Columnist
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 30, 2023 9:00AM (EST)
(Salon) Exactly one year from now, we will all be gathered for Thanksgiving. In addition to the traditional thanks offered for family, friends and loved ones, how many will be thankful for the outcome of the 2024 presidential election – which will be just three weeks in the rearview mirror?
Among those trying to become their party’s nominee, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump appear to have the inside trackt to set up a rematch of the 2020 election. Should Trump lose, he’ll obviously claim it was the work of those involved in dastardly deeds against the country and he was the victim. We are likely to see more violence and more bloodshed in a country that bathes in it. Sometimes it is nearly impossible to believe that everyone alive was the sperm that won the race.
....(snip)....
There are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who want to make sure Trump never comes back to power. It isn’t, as Trump claims, because he’s been “hounded by political wolves,” it is merely that Trump is a truly loathsome human being. He has no class, no tolerance, nothing of joy is derived by him unless it is at the expense of others. Those who’ve had the misfortune of being associated with him in anything from friendship to kinship end up grease for the engine, grist for the mill, and are run over by the Trump bus.
....(snip)....
If it comes down to Biden vs. Trump, I doubt there is little reason for those other than the diehard Trump fans to vote for a man who talks openly about dismantling the Constitution. The question is, can Biden energize the rest of the country out of their stupor and vote next year? I understand Biden’s belief that he should run again, but I’m really concerned about the future of both parties. What in the Hell happens even two years from now? Who is the future for the Democrats and Republicans? ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2023/11/30/is-afraid-of-a-rematch/
November 29, 2023
(MSNBC) Earlier this month, several Senate Republicans decided they’d seen enough of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s unprecedented blockade on confirming U.S. military leaders. In fact, these GOP members publicly accused the Alabama Republican of, among other things, being dishonest, damaging the military during international crises, assisting U.S. adversaries abroad, and relying on tactics that are “ridiculous” and “dumb.”
If the goal was to encourage the far-right senator to be more responsible, those efforts have apparently had no effect. HuffPost reported overnight:
There was, of course, a degree of irony to the circumstances: The politician responsible for weakening the military whined on national television about the military being weak.
Soon after, former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said Tuberville isn’t just wrong; he’s “an idiot.” ..............(more)
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gops-tuberville-slams-military-dems-eye-new-solution-rcna126968
Man responsible for weakening military complains about weakened military
(MSNBC) Earlier this month, several Senate Republicans decided they’d seen enough of Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s unprecedented blockade on confirming U.S. military leaders. In fact, these GOP members publicly accused the Alabama Republican of, among other things, being dishonest, damaging the military during international crises, assisting U.S. adversaries abroad, and relying on tactics that are “ridiculous” and “dumb.”
If the goal was to encourage the far-right senator to be more responsible, those efforts have apparently had no effect. HuffPost reported overnight:
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is coming under fire after he insulted the U.S. military on Monday evening. “We’ve got the weakest military that we’ve had in your or my lifetime,” he told Newsmax’s Eric Bolling as he complained about diversity initiatives. “Infiltrating our military is all this wokeness.”
There was, of course, a degree of irony to the circumstances: The politician responsible for weakening the military whined on national television about the military being weak.
Soon after, former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said Tuberville isn’t just wrong; he’s “an idiot.” ..............(more)
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gops-tuberville-slams-military-dems-eye-new-solution-rcna126968
November 29, 2023
“Daylighting” intersections to improve visibility for drivers is an effective way to make crosswalks safer for pedestrians. Here’s why it works so well.
By John Surico
November 28, 2023 at 12:36 PM EST
(Bloomberg CityLab) After a string of tragic traffic fatalities, a community board in Queens, New York, endorsed a call in June for city officials to make all intersections more visible to road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Then, in October, a board’s transportation committee in Brooklyn did the same. In the weeks since, full boards in Brooklyn and Queens joined the pack. Several boards in Manhattan are considering it as well.
The non-binding resolution is noticeably rare for community boards. Historically, the citizen-led bodies — which play an advisory role but are often looked to as local gauges of support — have been slow to support safety-minded street redesigns, favoring car parking over measures like bike lanes or road diets. But recently, things have changed, said Paul Kelterborn, an author of the resolution in Brooklyn’s Community Board 1, which represents Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
....(snip)....
That action is called daylighting, a process that pays close attention to the schematics of the street where most crashes occur: the corners of crossings. The idea is that if intersections are clear of obstructions like parked cars — or “brighter,” to follow the expression — then drivers, pedestrians and cyclists would all be able to see one another better. Better sightlines, less likelihood of crashes, the formula goes.
Daylighting can take many forms. Curb extensions, painted or built out with concrete, and sometimes with rain-absorbing plantings, are often cited. Curbside cycling amenities, like bikeshare docks or racks for micromobility vehicles like e-scooters, are increasingly common. Outdoor dining sheds can help with daylighting, too. Others use granite blocks or giant concrete balls. Even affixing a “no parking past this point” notice to a stop sign can help. ............(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-11-28/the-case-for-daylighting-the-cheap-traffic-safety-fix-that-cities-need?srnd=premium
This Cheap Street Fix Saves Lives. Why Don't More Cities Do It?
This Cheap Street Fix Saves Lives. Why Don’t More Cities Do It?“Daylighting” intersections to improve visibility for drivers is an effective way to make crosswalks safer for pedestrians. Here’s why it works so well.
By John Surico
November 28, 2023 at 12:36 PM EST
(Bloomberg CityLab) After a string of tragic traffic fatalities, a community board in Queens, New York, endorsed a call in June for city officials to make all intersections more visible to road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Then, in October, a board’s transportation committee in Brooklyn did the same. In the weeks since, full boards in Brooklyn and Queens joined the pack. Several boards in Manhattan are considering it as well.
The non-binding resolution is noticeably rare for community boards. Historically, the citizen-led bodies — which play an advisory role but are often looked to as local gauges of support — have been slow to support safety-minded street redesigns, favoring car parking over measures like bike lanes or road diets. But recently, things have changed, said Paul Kelterborn, an author of the resolution in Brooklyn’s Community Board 1, which represents Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
....(snip)....
That action is called daylighting, a process that pays close attention to the schematics of the street where most crashes occur: the corners of crossings. The idea is that if intersections are clear of obstructions like parked cars — or “brighter,” to follow the expression — then drivers, pedestrians and cyclists would all be able to see one another better. Better sightlines, less likelihood of crashes, the formula goes.
Daylighting can take many forms. Curb extensions, painted or built out with concrete, and sometimes with rain-absorbing plantings, are often cited. Curbside cycling amenities, like bikeshare docks or racks for micromobility vehicles like e-scooters, are increasingly common. Outdoor dining sheds can help with daylighting, too. Others use granite blocks or giant concrete balls. Even affixing a “no parking past this point” notice to a stop sign can help. ............(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-11-28/the-case-for-daylighting-the-cheap-traffic-safety-fix-that-cities-need?srnd=premium
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