I was out getting some donuts on Sunday morning and saw this sidewalk connection from the shared use path on the west side of Sawmill Road to the front door of Tim Hortons. It’s so rare that big box auto-oriented retail is well connected to the sidewalk, that I thought it merited a post.
Looking at the aerial, you can see that the sidewalk connection I photographed isn’t the only one. There are several that I’ve highlighted in red below.
The land use still isn’t pedestrian friendly, and I’d rather see buildings constructed at the right-of-way, but at least the sidewalk connections keep it from being hostile to pedestrians. Where buildings are set back from the right-of-way behind a parking lot, this is something basic that can be done to at least acknowledge that some people might want to get there without a car. I’d like to see these kinds of sidewalk connections retrofitted into old developments and required by zoning codes for new developments. Kudos to Dublin for doing this.
[…] Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has put together a budget proposal that really prioritizes cycling. Xing Columbus notes that one Ohio community seems to require sidewalks through parking lots, and while […]
Walking is going to be incredibly rare in a place like this. They ought to optimize it for cycling.
1. I agree it is rare. But there may be more people within walking distance than you think. See the apartments and townhomes east of Sawmill Rd and behind the grocery store to the west here: http://goo.gl/maps/zw2ji
2. You’ll notice that the sidewalk I photographed does connect to a shared use path on the side of the street.
3. Dublin does install a lot of side paths along major streets and paths as cut-throughs between subdivisions. See Google bike map here: http://goo.gl/maps/yPQLr
cheers for getting picked up by Kaid Benfield
That will boost the site stats.
[…] Dublin, Ohio — a poster child for 1990s sprawl — is slowly retrofitting. Circled above are sidewalks installed through parking lots. Photo: Xing Columbus […]
Columbus has this as well, see this relatively new Arby’s: http://maps.google.com/?ll=40.086262,-83.09126&spn=0.001116,0.002047&t=h&z=19
Other new restaurants on Sawmill such as Red Lobster also have such accommodations. Definitely the right direction, even if it’s still not great.
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These types of sidewalks are a good step in the right direction.