Daily Archives: November 7, 2006

Traffic

Better road design could have huge impact

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Since streets are in the news quite a bit these days (Northmoor widening, Washington Street narrowing, Adams and Jefferson possibly converting from one-way to two-way), I think this is a good time to raise awareness of how much impact our streets have on our safety and quality of life, and how they can be made better. Research and experimentation being done today in coastal cities is proving that new approaches to street design can net huge benefits for communities.

Ian Lockwood, Senior Transportation Engineer at the community planning and design consulting firm of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, is featured in this little video explaining traffic calming measures that were implemented in West Palm Beach, Florida, and how those measures produced increased economic activity, lower crime rates, and a more liveable community.

The same kind of interventions could be implemented here in Peoria. See if you don’t see any similarities to Peoria’s streets in this presentation:

Hat tip: Pat McNamara

City of Peoria, Voting

No signature required to vote in Peoria?

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I discovered this morning that there’s a new process in voting. It used to be that the election officials there at the precinct had a book with a page for each registered voter with a digital copy of your signature printed on the page. They would tear out the page, have you verify your address, and sign the sheet. Then they would compare the signatures.

Today, upon walking in, I had to print my name and address on a small pre-printed form, and then show it to the election official, who then verified that I was registered to vote in that precinct. No signature required.

I wonder why they eliminated the signature requirement? It seems like someone with felonious intentions could pretty easily look up registered voters who don’t regularly vote, then walk into those persons’ polling places all over Peoria and cast a vote as that person. Shouldn’t there be some sort of verification that you are who you say you are? I know the signature verification wasn’t much, but at least it was something.

UPDATE: I called the Peoria Election Commission and was told that they were doing it wrong at my precinct. Apparently your signature is required. You’re supposed to sign in the poll book next to your name. They told me they would call my precinct to make sure they’re requiring signatures.