To the Editor:

I read the Sound Off “Cross Walking Problems” in North Country This Week (Aug. 8-14) related to crosswalks. It is perfectly legal for a pedestrian to cross the road anywhere they want (except against a signal).

In a crosswalk, the pedestrian has the right-of-way and vehicles must wait. Outside of a crosswalk, the vehicle has the right-of-way and pedestrians must wait.

That said, at certain intersections, I see little point in pressing the walk button, because there are holes in the traffic flow where no cars ever travel, e.g. at the north end of Park Street.

I’ve read the academic journals about traffic engineering in Clarkson’s library, and don’t worry, the traffic engineers expect that you will use those holes. So do so without guilt, even though the law expect you to not use them. Why make cars wait unnecessarily?

Russell Nelson, Potsdam