What's wrong with these streets?

The half mile stretch of Main Street from the traffic light at Bodega to the re-joining of the couplet roads feels like a racetrack. Drivers wait for the green light at Bodega Avenue and then they are off. The first block has three lanes of southbound traffic, 13′, 12.5′ and 13′ in width, with 8′ wide parking lanes on either side. So at Burnett Street, the first intersection to the south, there is 54.5′ from curb to curb for a pedestrian to cross. After this intersection, the left lane tapers out eventually leaving two 17′ wide travel lanes with 8′ wide parking lanes on either side.

The posted speed limit on Main Street is 25 mph, but realistically the design speed is much, much higher. While the lane widths would allow driving at 55 mph, or faster, the parallel parking and proximity of buildings on either side of the street discourage it a bit, but people definitely speed frequently. And who could blame them? The majority of indications from the motorist perspective are that you should drive fast after you get through that light. There are four of the improved crosswalks with flashing lights as you move through the first half mile before the left lane directs you back to Petaluma Avenue and only the right lane continues southbound. (This feature also encourages speeding as those drivers in the left lane that want to continue south need to merge back into the right lane within a half mile. And speed they do.)

I live a block west of Main Street, so frequently walk this section of road and have seen firsthand how it is designed to move cars through as quickly as possible with little regard for the pedestrian. The intersection at Burnett, which has a high volume of pedestrians crossing, has had no improvements made for the pedestrian. It’s simply a crosswalk.