10th and Elm: Another failure-by-design for walkability.

E. 10th Street crosses Elm one block away from S. Ellen Jones Elementary School. The satellite view tells the inexplicable tale: There are no crosswalks drawn across Elm, a one-way arterial street with lanes drawn for 18-wheelers, slicing like an interstate through a residential neighborhood. .

However, there is a lone, wide and profoundly weird line drawn across Elm on the west side. One simply has to ask: What were they thinking?

Answer: They weren't. Anyone who has spent five minutes observing this intersection knows that this line tends NOT to bring automotive traffic to anything approximating a complete stop -- a truth that eluded the NAPD under Chief Knight when the department spent all of an hour or two disproving the notion advanced by residents that cars move very fast on Elm.

Let's go over this again: Wide street, a school nearby, unenforced traffic, a residential area ... and nothing whatsoever to assist walkers crossing the street.

In a nutshell, this is the biggest extant red flag in the run-up to the Jeff Speck report. The record of this city toward walkers and bikers is one of blithe neglect (at best) and institutionalized hostility (at its worst). The current administration continues to insist that once it receives its report, it finally will begin to remedy this situation.

But if you know something needs fixing, why do you wait for the report? Why don't you exercise pro-activity in advance?

After all, the information's out there, and it has been for years.

The problem? You have to read it first.