3 November 2007

Green Revolution, The

By

Public Space

Three green men on Torstraße. What does this mean for the pedestrian? It means the dignity of crossing two lanes of traffic, two tram lines, and two more lanes of traffic in one go. That’s the trick! In one go! It doesn’t mean getting to the middle, having the light go red on you, and having to wait two and a half more minutes in the middle of the road, as it has done daily, for the last ten years. Pedestrian dignity.

This journal salutes the Straßenverkehrsbehörden (Traffic Authority) for their common sense and courage in making this small but valuable change. In fact, we’re so pleased that we’ve taken the trouble to write to Herr Lange, director of the department for Verkehrslenkung Berlin (VLB), to congratulate him on this astute and outrageously belated decision, and to ask him how and why it came about. An answer is pending.

As an encore, they can go and sort out Gneisenaustraße in Kreuzberg.