I’ve never given much thought to pedestrian safety because I’ve never been in harm’s way or seen pedestrians at risk. That’s until two months ago. In February I attended a conference in Houston. Houston is notorious for its traffic, as is most any large city. I was staying at a hotel alongside the Katy Freeway, also known as Interstate 10, the major east-west interstate highway in the southern U.S. At one point the Katy Freeway stretches 26 lanes across. A frontage road runs parallel to the freeway giving access to local businesses. The conference was at another hotel about a mile away, so I walked along a sidewalk next to the frontage road to get there and back.
I’ve walked in many a city, even LA, but I’ve never been as intimidated as I was walking that mile in Houston. On my way back I got lost and ended up on the other side of the Katy Freeway from where my hotel was. That meant somewhere along the way I was going to have to cross at least ten lanes of rush hour traffic.