Drawing the line

Crooked intentions

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is experimenting with a new traffic safety strategy: Confuse the drivers.

To do this, the VDOT is painting white zigzagging lines down the middle of each lane on streets with heavy pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

While this may seem puzzling, that’s the whole point. The idea is to disorient drivers as they approach bike and foot paths in the hopes that they will slow down out of confusion.

While this technique has been used in Australia and the U.K., Virginia had to first get permission from the U.S. Department of Transportation before launching the experiment. VDOT’s research division will monitor the new markings for a year to see if they slow motorists down, or distract them and cause more pedestrians to be run over. Officials figure it could go either way.

Lake with lots of character(s)

Webster, Mass., is so proud to be the home of the country’s longest place name, city officials have decided to start spelling it correctly.

For years, no one was quite sure what the correct spelling of Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg was, and local road signs featured several variations. But thanks to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which has been covering the spelling scandal since 2003, the city has decided on an official spelling for all signs.

There are many stories about the origin of the unwieldy Indian name. One popular myth is that the name translates to “You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle.”

Asphalt lickin’ good

A fast-food chain is hoping a new promotion will pave the way to new business.

This past March, KFC offered to pay for $3,000 worth of pothole repairs in its hometown of Louisville, Ky. There was just one small catch.

In return for the money, KFC required that some of the repaired potholes be painted with a temporary chalk stencil reading “Re-freshed by KFC.”

The Colonel then opened the offer up to cities across the country. Mayors were able to apply for the $3,000 grant by describing to KFC their cities’ street repair needs.

Of the nearly 20,000 cities in the U.S., only 14 applied, and in April four winners were chosen at random: Chattanooga, Tenn., Warren, Ohio, Austin, Texas, and Petaluma, Calif.

But like they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

A few days after the winners were announced, the city of Austin declined the donation when city officials were made aware of the stencil condition. So KFC selected Topeka, Kan., to receive Austin’s money instead.

Then People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced they would offer the four winning cities $6,000 worth of repairs if they could have their own message stenciled on the fresh asphalt instead of KFC’s. PETA’s proposed artwork included a likeness of Colonel Sanders sporting devil horns with the catchy tagline “KFC tortures animals.”

Rather than get into the middle of an animal rights debate, the city of Petaluma also turned down the money. The mayor of Warren wasn’t quite so concerned with the potential ethical dilemma and actually tried to use PETA's offer to negotiate a higher donation from KFC.

If KFC’s promotion proves successful despite all the controversy, it may only be a matter of time before your city’s intersections ask you to “STOP (with help from Imodium).”