Crossing the street

There was only one stoplight in Cottonwood, Alabama, where I grew up.  It was replaced by a blinking light sometime during my early teenage years.  It should not be a surprise that there were no crosswalks to enable people to get from one side of the street to the other.   

You ran between cars and walked between tractors.  If it was Summer and you were barefooted, then you ran fast because the asphalt was so hot.  The concrete sidewalks were cooler, something I remember to this day.

In fact, I do not know that I ever used a crosswalk on a street before I was in college.   I honestly do not remember if there were red and green lights to cross the street in Dothan where I went to high school.  I think we were just taught to cross the street when the traffic light was red and stay put when the light was green.  It seemed simple then.

Today, I attended the ceremony in Auburn that allowed people to cross in every direction when the lights turned red.  A crosswalk, I think it is called, which allows you to walk right through the middle of the intersection.  

The problem was that on a busy intersection like Toomer’s Corner, the people were walking across the street when all the cars were trying to turn right on red.  It caused the traffic to back up, often to the traffic light on the next street.   The result on the worst of days was gridlock.

To celebrate the innovative solution the city held what was billed as the “The World’s Shortest Party” at the Tiger Paw.  The Tiger Paw is painted in the middle of the intersection at Toomer’s Corner, the most historic location in Auburn.

I made my way downtown for the 11:30 start, strategically scheduled during the hottest and most humid day of the year so far.  The goal was for everyone to stand on the Tiger Paw in the middle of the intersection while crossing diagonally across the intersection.  I can only imagine the frustration of the cars backed up for blocks with drivers that had no idea what was going on.

Nevertheless, it was an amazing sight.  The big winner was Toomer’s Drugs, who had a steady line of people exiting with their famous lemonade in hand.  Hundreds gathered sampling the small cupcakes provided, with their phones held high, capturing the moment as if it was a national championship.

The Mayor said it best when he stated that only Auburn could hold a party for a crosswalk.  He also noted that the bullhorn that he had been provided was red and white, an omission that will certainly never occur again in this solidly orange and blue city.

For those a bit older than me, Mayor Anders has solid Southwest Georgia roots, with his grandparents, Joe and Mary Kirkland, being longtime residents of Donalsonville.  His mother, Rosemary, and his aunt, Flavia, both grew up in the city where Mary Lou and I lived for over 40 years.  Now we live across the street from each other.

There is something both quaint and special about celebrating a new type of crosswalk.  In all honesty, in the six years we have lived in Auburn I have had more than one close call by a driver turning right on red while walking the streets of Auburn and the University campus every morning.  

I have learned that you take your life in your own hand when you cross a street with thousands of first-year students learning how to negotiate busy intersections while texting at the same time.  My last harrowing experience was just this morning.  If I cannot see the driver’s eyes, I do not cross.

Time will tell if this innovative solution works.  We have all seen it after a football game or in a major city when a police officer is in the middle of the intersection.  Whether otherwise distracted drivers can adapt to a new system only deployed in one intersection in the entire city remains to be seen.

I drove through the intersection, which is less than a mile from our house half a dozen times today and all seemed well.  Of course, it was not late at night after all the bars closed, or after the rolling of Toomer’s Corner following a big win.  

I remember learning how to turn right on red as a teenager.   Not a big problem in a town with one traffic light.  Later, I got one of my two teenage tickets by turning right on red without stopping.  The fact I was going one mile an hour and there was no car in sight in any direction was not a mitigating factor.

At the end of the day, I just enjoyed the fact that hundreds of people showed up on a ridiculously humid, hot day to celebrate, of all things, a new type of crosswalk, just a new way to cross the street.  With everything in the world seemingly in disarray, it is good to celebrate something so simple and so practical.

o0o

Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]