Crossing Michigan Ave.

If you think you won’t make it, you won’t.

I took a chance starting to cross Michigan Ave. well into the traffic’s signal pedestrian crossing. I did not make the crossing. An opportunity: a 9 second exposure while I waited on the planter in the middle of Michigan Ave.

While I waited, I wondered when the first pedestrian crossing signs were installed. The U.S. Department of Transportation has a rather cheeky write up on the history. We’ll go with sometime between 1938-’40.

There’s that quote attributed to Henry Ford: “Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

Where was the First Walk/Don’t Walk Sign Installed?

You Will Not Find the Answer Here

The Highway History page recently received an inquiry about where the first Walk/Don’t Walk sign was installed. This question has come up before, but we’ve never been able to find the answer. Our research helped pin down the time frame (late 1930’s), but not the location. The Highway History page does not like to fail, but here’s a summary of the research-for what it’s worth.