{"id":1256,"date":"2013-04-18T18:11:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T08:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2014-05-30T17:47:52","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T07:47:52","slug":"the-symbolism-of-pedestrian-crossings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/2013\/04\/18\/the-symbolism-of-pedestrian-crossings\/","title":{"rendered":"The symbolism of pedestrian crossings"},"content":{"rendered":"

In built-up areas the pedestrian crossing is a familiar feature of the horizontal signscape. William Phelps Eno, sometimes known as the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfather of traffic safety\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is credited with introducing the cross-walk to New York streets in the early 1900s. Once motorized vehicles became popular, something had to be done to protect pedestrians from reckless drivers.<\/p>\n

Sydney was one of many cities that soon followed suit. As early as 1912 lines were painted on the road at busy Circular Quay to provide a safe crossing area.\u00c2\u00a0 Within a few years designated pedestrian crossings in the rest of the city were being marked out with metal studs or pairs of white lines. Designs for crossings have continued to change over the years.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A stopping line at the intersection of Market and Pitts Streets in Sydney, marked out with metal studs, 1929 (City of Sydney Archives photograph, SRC7806, file 034\\034213).<\/p><\/div>\n

For some people, pedestrian crossings represent order, civilization and safety. For others they represent repression and regimentation of people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behaviour.<\/p>\n

\"Fake<\/a>

Fanciful pedestrian crossing, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcDesign saves lives\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, an entrant in the Eye Saw exhibition in Omnibus Lane, Ultimo during Sydney Design Week, 2006 (photo by meganix).<\/p><\/div>\n

Some pedestrian crossings have achieved iconic status. The most famous is the crossing featured on the cover of the Beatle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 1969 LP Abbey Road. Photographed by thousands of fans and tourists emulating the Fab Four crossing the road near their recording studio in single file, this \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmodest structure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (to quote an official of English Heritage) has been given heritage listing for its \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccultural and historical importance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The original photograph has been recently used in a pedestrian safety campaign in the Indian City of Calcutta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Road<\/a>

Road safety poster using Ian Macmillan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s famous 1969 photograph, issued by the Kolkata [Calcutta] Traffic Police in February 2013.<\/p><\/div>And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Rainbow Crossing at Taylor Square in Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gay precinct of Darlinghurst. When it was removed by the State Government some people were glad, with one newspaper letter-writer<\/a> declaring that \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccompulsory pieces of public infrastructure should not force upon pedestrians political views which contravene their religious or moral conscience\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The disappeared Rainbow Crossing at Taylor Square and a notice about a rally for marriage equality, April 2013 (photo by meganix).<\/p><\/div>\n

However such views were drowned out by the groundswell of outrage that manifested itself in the DIY Rainbow Crossing protest. It is significant that this is all going on at the same time as the parliament of Australia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neighbour \u00c2\u00a0New Zealand had done what no Australian government will do and legalised same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A painted DIY Rainbow Crossing in Jones Street, Ultimo (Sydney), April 2013 (photo by meganix).<\/p><\/div>\n

Mind you, as Lawrence Gibbons in City News<\/a> points out, having created a public relations coup with the DIY Rainbow Crossings, Lord Mayor Clover Moore is left with a dilemma. Under policies implemented during her nine-year tenure, any street art, graffiti or posters in the City of Sydney must be removed from any highly visible site within twenty four hours. Under this ruling, the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scrubbing machines should be out there right now removing the rainbows.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In built-up areas the pedestrian crossing is a familiar feature of the horizontal signscape. William Phelps Eno, sometimes known as the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfather of traffic safety\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is credited with introducing the cross-walk to New York streets in the early 1900s. Once motorized vehicles became popular, something had to be done to protect pedestrians from reckless drivers. <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,86,105,22,106,79,81],"tags":[122,3,49,21,7,68],"class_list":["post-1256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-city","category-events","category-people","category-protest","category-rules-and-regulations","category-signs-and-symbols","category-territoriality","tag-advertising","tag-graffiti","tag-pedestrians","tag-political","tag-sydney","tag-traffic-signs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1256"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1509,"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions\/1509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meganix.net\/pavement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}