I have found "Where the Sidewalk (Truly) Ends," and it's just outside the Prescott Gateway Mall.

My wife and I decided to drop our car off at Discount Tire across the street from the Prescott Gateway Mall Friday morning, and timed it so we could walk over to the mall and visit the Wildflower Bakery for a delicious sandwich while we waited. Seemed like a reasonable plan.

We left the tire store and walked down the street toward the crosswalk that crosses highway 69. As we approached the crossing we noticed that, although there is a crosswalk there, and a button for pedestrians to push, there is no sidewalk on the other side. It instead leads directly to the steep embankment covered with landscape rocks that towers above the roadway. Perplexed as we were at why there would be a crosswalk that leads nowhere, we looked up and saw another crosswalk a little further up the road. Ok, so there's no sidewalk leading there either...but at least it's a flat path. As we hiked through the gravel and roadside brush we repeatedly glanced over our shoulder fearing some vehicle might drift into our walking path and take us for a ride. Upon arrival at the crosswalk we push the button and made our way across the highway. What do you think we found after crossing to the mall entrance? This crosswalk leads to a sidewalk stub that ends a few feet later at a bush. It's as if the mall is still under construction and they have some grading and sidewalk work yet to complete. At this point our only course of action was to either walk up the busy drive and dodge cars that are streaming around blind corners and out onto highway 69 or scramble up the rocky slope to the parking lot 30 feet above. Now, we knew that walking to the mall might be a little work, but what we didn't know was that we would be taking our lives into our hands in the process.

What were they thinking? Did no one ever ask, "Where do the people walk?" A further examination of the other entrances revealed similar pedestrian access issues. There simply are no pedestrian paths that lead to the mall. The mall should not be an island unto itself, accessible only by motor vehicles. Why the City of Prescott let this mall be built with virtually no provisions for pedestrian access is beyond me. Especially when it is located across the street from other retail establishments. There are crosswalks and lights for pedestrians but their only purpose appears to be to lull people into a false sense that pedestrian access has been provided. In reality it is just a facade.

It seems that government and many individuals give lip service to using less gas, walking for health and vitality, saving the planet, etc., but when the rubber meets the road, the tire rubber usually wins. How do we expect people to considered alternatives transportation methods when we don't even require a mall developer to provide simple sidewalks to access their multi-million dollar establishments? Can we please consider pedestrians and bicyclists when we plan our community? Prescott and the quad city area are far from complete. Let's not be short sighted but require our city planners to implement strategies that leverage the future by anticipating the needs and safety of their constituents. A little strategic planning can go a long way in improving the quality of life for everyone. As gas prices climb over the next few decades, as they surely will, there will be more people searching for alternative methods of transporation. Will we accommodate that future, or not?  

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NoWheresville
written by stewart moore, August 11, 2008

The sidewalk is decorative. Much like the fake flag poles out front of the mall....which are really cell towers.....they Do have flags but serve a much higher god.
When the new conference center resort crap is built on top of the hill above the tire store (and Goodwill)....then they'll probably have a shuttle service to Sears.

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