Persuasive Essay On Sidewalks

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Sidewalks give citizens the option to safely walk to nearby establishments. This is a major issue in the city of Clarksville, Tennessee as most of the major roadways do not have sidewalks for pedestrians to use. As a result, pedestrians put themselves at risk to being involved in a roadway collision. A lack of sidewalks in heavily populated areas also decreases people’s ability to walk as a recreational activity or as an alternative to driving. Mark Jones said it best in his article in the Knoxville News Sentinel, “Sidewalks are a community investment that will enhance our neighborhoods and serve our citizens for years to come.” (Jones, 2008) Therefore, there needs to be more sidewalks built on major roadways in Clarksville, TN in order …show more content…

Trying to get to the appropriate bus stop along Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville, TN can be a scary task. It can be likened to a game of Frogger if you are trying to get to the bus stop along the Southern route, as in order to get to these stops, a pedestrian has to cross six lanes of a very busy road to get there, with hardly a crosswalk in sight. Even if you are fortunate enough not to need to cross the busy roads, even walking alongside without sidewalks it feels like a gamble. According to the Federal Highway Administration, crashes involving pedestrians along roadways could be prevented by having sidewalks as much as 88 percent (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 2010). This data not only makes the need for sidewalks blatantly obvious but also sets precedence of why it should be a priority for the community. This also increases safety from a driver’s perspective, as giving people the ability to travel by sidewalk frees up space on the …show more content…

Repairing damaged roadways or improving current city streets, while important, should not be made a priority over the citizens that are unable to travel by automobile. These citizens, which make up a large portion of the population, which has been estimated to be up to 37% in some states, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities (U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, 2010). Not providing these groups with a mode of transportation to get to nearby schools, businesses, or other locations diminishes the ability to serve the community as a whole. As long as the city makes public its intentions, the surrounding citizens should get behind it. If this were not to happen then it is possible that taxpayer funds could be wasted. This is what happened in DeKalb County, Georgia, where a sidewalk being built did not have the support from members of the community and became known as the “Sidewalk to Nowhere” (Torpy,2015). Putting a cost on the safety of a pedestrian’s life is unmeasurable and can only be quantified by those that would oppose a safer transportation system for many citizens in the Clarksville

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