Panama pedestrian unfriendly
(primapanama.blogs.com) If you have ever tried to walk in Panama city, crossing the streets or just walking on a sidewalk can be hazardous to your health. Panama is a city where pedestrians receive no special protection and it even appears that every effort has been made to make walking prohibitive. This, in a country where most do not have cars is hard to believe, but it comes down to planning and that is in short supply in Panama. It is interesting that master planned projects out in the hinterlands and beaches must make all allowances for pedestrians even though there are few people walking around there.
Excerpt from La Prensa;
Some cities are known for being a walker’s paradise. Take for example London, Amsterdam and Savannah, Georgia. Panama City is not one of those. Those unfortunate enough to have to hoof it often encounter a sort of obstacle course of vehicles, crumbling sidewalks, and holes that plunge into an abyss. Other walkways are blocked by food vendors, piles of garbage and seemingly interminable construction work.
The few sidewalks or shoulders of roads that exist are usually used as parking spots. And crossing signals remain luxury items.
This is what happens when urban public policies have been geared to building a city around cars and not pedestrians, explained Arturo González, a civil engineer and former director of Operations at the country’s transportation authority, ATTT.
