A rogue sidewalk?

[Tom958]

Yet another sidewalk thread. 

A couple of weeks ago I gave one of my crew members a ride home after work: go north from I-285 on Peachtree Industrial, which at that point is a Texas-style freeway with continuous one-way frontage roads. Exit at Winters Chapel, turn left, go less than a half mile to his apartment complex. After exiting onto the frontage road, I saw three teenaged boys walking down the left side of the frontage road. Then I quickly noticed that a whole lot of people must do that, because the path they were on has been eroded to a depth of several inches and is clearly visible on Google Maps. I asked my coworker about it, and he confirmed the obvious: people walk that way to travel between businesses along the frontage road and the residential areas, including numerous apartments, on the other side.

There's no sidewalk on the right side of the frontage road, and it wouldn't be very feasible to build one since the grades of the aprons connecting the various parking lots vastly exceed acceptable cross slope for a sidewalk. Moreover, the intersection of PIB and Winters Chapel is an unusual SPUI design, with a plethora of vehicular paths across it. No crosswalks are marked, and even if they were, it's debatable whether pedestrians would use them rather than simply jaywalking across the frontage road. Really, I'd jaywalk at a point where I'd only have to watch traffic approaching from one direction rather than proceeding to a point at which traffic approaches from every whichway-- after having crossed a right turn ramp to even get to the point where the hypothetical crosswalks might begin. That's especially if the jaywalking route is shorter, which it is.

The weird alternative would be to provide a sidewalk that can be accessed only illegally. Or, throw in a pedestrian-actuated crossing signal on the frontage road, know full well that it will be ignored.

Please discuss?   

[Brian556]

This happens all the time. There are tons of places where there are well-worn paths because the government does not provide sidewalks where they are needed.

[Tom958]

This happens all the time. There are tons of places where there are well-worn paths because the government does not provide sidewalks where they are needed.

Wow, a DOT employee in Texas-- jackpot!

So, if funding was available, would Texas provide a sidewalk in a similar situation?

[Brian556]

Often they do not. FM 407 in Highland Village, which was reconstructed in the early 00's, is a good example.
However, they are providing a sidewalk/bike trail on the new I-35E Lake Lewisville Bridge.