Description

The new garage at 10 Essex has an egress that requires drivers to go over the pedestrian right-of-way. The new design uses a flashing+beeping warning sound to warn people on the sidewalk that a vehicle is exiting the garage. I feel like there are two problems with the new design:

1. The warning is far too loud. It is audible well over a block away, past Bishop Allen Dr.
2. The attention-grabbing warning is falsely giving the impression that drivers driving over the sidewalk have the right-of-way and that it is the responsibility of people walking to stop and let them pass. This is the opposite of the truth. Shouldn't the only necessary warning be for exiting drivers: "Yield to people on the sidewalk"?

I worry that low-vision+hearing sidewalk users (who use this area frequently thanks to the public transit station) who pass here may have been overlooked. I worry also that the new design is promoting a false narrative of "shared responsibility" when it comes to not being hit by cars. Don't we want our children and people with different cognitive abilities to be able to use the sidewalk without an unnecessarily imposed conflict?