【Kaohsiung News】The Transportation Bureau recently completed the marked sidewalks in front of Yang Ming Elementary School in Sanmin District, providing a welcoming walking space for pedestrians that has been well received by students from the surrounding campus and local residents.
The Yide Road in front of the Yang Ming Elementary School gate connects Yihua Road and Dafong 2nd Road on two sides. It is surrounded by stores and cram schools, and serves as an important commuter route for students.
The Transportation Bureau jointly conducted site investigations and discussions with Yang Ming Elementary School, Baoyu Village Head, Baotai Village Head, Sanmin District Councilors and legislators. The Transportation Bureau has installed 350 meters of marked sidewalks west of Yide Road, connecting Yihua Road and Dafong Second Road. Furthermore, to accommodate school and cram school parents’ pick-ups and drop-offs, as well as businesses’ temporary parking needs, parking spaces were planned on the outside of the marked sidewalks, creating an alternative physical partition to not only protect pedestrians’ safety during passage but also not reduce local parking needs, resulting in a win-win situation. Mrs. Li, a school parent, stated, “This designation is advantageous because it will eliminate the need for students to cross between moving cars and provide a safe walking space.” Lin, a cram school teacher, stated, “taking students to the day care center gives her more peace of mind because, finally, they don’t have to walk on car lanes.” Mr. Chen, a neighboring business owner, added, “Taking parking space into consideration not only keeps users consistent with their present patterns of behavior but also creates a pedestrian-friendly environment.”
The Transportation Bureau stated that even after the marked sidewalk plan designation is completed, pedestrian and vehicle use in this road section will continue to be monitored. The road section will be promoted and extended in the future based on usage. In recent years, the Transportation Bureau has installed 90 marked sidewalks, which have been well received by pedestrians. While physical sidewalks cannot be built, marked sidewalks will be pedestrian-only areas that vehicles must not occupy in violation. Please obey signs and stop and yield to pedestrians when they cross roads, so that the general public can work together to create a safe and friendly humanity-oriented traffic environment.