Re: Overheard on the scanner

In the Year of the Earth Rat, the Great and Powerful Keith F. Lynch 
declared:
> Paul Dormer <prd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> I can't picture what you are talking about here.  What do you mean
>> by "pedestrian cut-through" in this context?
> 
> In a neighborhood full of dead end streets (or culs de sac, the term
> preferred by people who live in them),


Cul-de-sacs usually terminate in a small circle so you can reverse 
your course without making a 3-point turn, unlike normal dead-ends.

> the shortest on-road path
> between two points is often *much* longer than a straight line.  The
> purpose of the dead ends is to cut down on car traffic.  This works
> because nobody will drive on a dead end street unless they're heading
> to or from one of the few destinations on that part of that street.

Cul-de-sacs don't reduce traffic; they concentrate it on main 
thoroughfares.

-- 
Sean O'Hara <http://diogenes-sinope.blogspot.com>
Kitty Farmer: Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!
    -Donnie Darko