Here's the scoop - with more people living in the Art's District and walking to/from the Old Port, and more destinations drawing people from the Old Port to the Art's District, it's traffic calming before a pedestrian gets hit in this horrible intersection. The catch is that it's in a trial period for the summer to see how the traffic flows.
Where there would potentially be permanent side walk extensions to shorten the distance of the crosswalks, there will be murals painted on the existing street surrounded by temporary pylons to change driver behavior. The city will be looking for feedback, so hopefully anyone here who values the culture of a walkable city over more traffic will provide a favorable review to the city. You know who they will hear from - the distracted, aggressive drivers that didn't want to stop in the first place. There will be some sharp turns, and potentially the intersection will be tested with blinking red lights in all directions. That should make the guy in the pickup truck who almost hit the person in the crosswalk today happy, he'll be the one complaining to the city.
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