In December 2014, a mother and two children were crossing State Street downtown, in front of the public library. They were hit by a car and the 7-year-old daughter was killed. They were doing something that visitors do every single day, as this video (courtesy of Strong Towns member Steve Shultis and his daughter) clearly shows: crossing the street mid-block to get from the library's doors to its parking lot on the other side. Strong Towns president and founder Chuck Marohn was in town that night, and wrote about it in an essay, "Just Another Pedestrian Killed," that has become one of our most enduringly influential.

Influential, that is, except within the walls of Springfield City Hall. This death has not prompted any design changes to the street. Three years later, an open letter from Strong Towns explained that the city could face legal liability for failing to correct a known safety hazard by slowing traffic and providing a safe crossing in front of the library. The mayor and public works director, however, remained convinced that there was "no practical way of making [State Street] safe for pedestrians" (a ludicrous statement unless you define "practical" to mean, "without inconveniencing drivers").

Springfield residents have spoken up for change. Elected officials have come on board, proposing a crosswalk with a button-activated traffic light (i.e. a HAWK signal, a design which has been highly successful in other cities, and is recommended by the Federal Highway Administration).

The usual suspects are still stonewalling this fix, though, as of August 2019. MassLive reports:

The city’s public works director has rejected the idea of installing a crosswalk and pedestrian traffic signal on State Street in front of the central library, saying it would not be safe and would create other serious traffic problems.... [Director Christopher] Cignoli said that pedestrians should not cross at that spot — which is mid-block, and across a four-lane street—but rather at a marked crosswalk at the major intersection of State, Chestnut and Maple streets. Plantings, fencing and stairs were added to discourage the mid-block crossings, but many pedestrians see it as quicker and more convenient option, city officials say. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, in support of Cignoli's analysis, said the councilors' proposal "is a false narrative that would put pedestrians in harm's way according to the experts."

A "false narrative"? I don't feel the need to rehash all the reasons why the street's existing design is negligent and why both slowing traffic and creating a signalized mid-block crossing are warranted; again, read our prior articles on the subject for that. But as long as we're on the subject of false narratives....

Introducing the Cult of the Fantasy Pedestrian

The mayor's attitude sadly isn't unusual at all. Its invocation of "experts" to shut down debate is troubling, especially given that the engineering profession is changing rapidly and even many "experts" today would endorse precisely the solution that three city council members proposed for State Street (a HAWK beacon and crosswalk).

But the other problem with the mayor’s attitude is that it reflects a particular sort of magical thinking. It's a belief in what I'm going to call the Cult of the Fantasy Pedestrian.

The Fantasy Pedestrian, you see, is more than happy to abide by the law. Every law. In all circumstances.

The Fantasy Pedestrian always crosses at the nearest crosswalk, no matter how far out of the way it may be.

The Fantasy Pedestrian presses the beg button and waits. They will never under any circumstance be in the road when they don't have a walk signal.

The Fantasy Pedestrian certainly doesn't start crossing on a flashing "don't walk" countdown.

Designing streets for the Fantasy Pedestrian is really, really easy, because their behavior is 100 percent predictable in every circumstance. Just lay out the rules. But designing streets for real people, who take shortcuts and do spontaneous and expedient and sometimes even foolhardy things, requires more critical thought.