Sidewalks are like Two Way Streets for People

With spring approaching, or at least I believe its approaching, I’ve returned to walking more to and from the office. It saves money, it's healthy and most of the time I really enjoy being outside and taking in the city.

I tend to walk against the general flow of work traffic, I head towards the train stations on my way to work and vice versa when heading home, and I often find that I am practically run off the road or into buildings trying to squeeze past the tidal wave of office workers heading the opposite direction. I can accept that if most of the people are heading one way that they’ll take up most of the sidewalk, but it's ridiculous for there to be less than a one-person width for those of us heading the other direction.

Lately I’ve been playing a little bit of chicken in the morning, seeing whether people on my side of the sidewalk will move back over or not, and if not I usually let them run into my bag. It’s a little childish but it helps to stem the bubbling frustration I should not be having less than half way through my coffee.

It isn't just people heading to/from the offices that take up the whole sidewalk, though. As soon as the weather gets warmer flocks of tourists will descend upon the city and they will walk five people across, stand in the middle of the sidewalk to look at buildings or figure out directions and in general wreak havoc on the normal traffic flow. Tourism is part of living in Chicago and I acknowledge that non-city folks won’t be as good at navigating city sidewalks as the natives. It's still rude to visit somewhere and stand in the way, no matter how unfamiliar you are with the territory.

SIDEWALKS ARE LIKE TWO WAY STREETS FOR PEOPLE. They aren't required by law of course, but I think basic driving rules would work wonders on a sidewalk: walk on the right, pass on the left (and by left, I mean the left part of the right half of the sidewalk, if you can help it).

All you have to do is pretend there is a dotted yellow line right down the middle. Most sidewalk circumstances can already be explained in familiar terms:

• Puddles are like construction. Traffic will need to slow down, often to a single lane in each direction to maneuver around them.
• Families and tourists are like snowplows and over-sized trucks with houses on them. They’re annoying and absolutely slow you down but you still have to wait until oncoming traffic is clear to pass them.
• Walking with an umbrella requires checking your blind spots, and the bigger the umbrella the bigger the blind spot. Golf umbrellas do provide the most rain coverage but they take up a lot of room. Watch where you’re going.
• Rush hour is still rush hour. More people on the same route at the same time results in everyone going slower. If you can’t change the time you are out or the route you take you’re stuck snaking along with everyone else.

Not everyone walks at the same speed or with the same purpose but there isn’t any reason why some people should drive the traffic flow for the whole sidewalk. Sidewalks are two-way shared spaces and should be respected as such.

The next time you’re running errands at lunch trying to get back to work on time and you find yourself behind a family of four eating ice cream cones and holding hands wait the extra thirty seconds until you can clear them without running anyone else off the sidewalk. If you’re part of the family with the ice cream and yours gets knocked off when someone blows by you on the left re-think the amount of space you’re taking up and maybe move to a two-by-two formation. Sharing is caring, folks.