Slow Down Cat

The City of Sebastopol recently debuted it’s most recent attempt at slowing traffic in town. Created by local sculptor Patrick Amiot, Slow Down Cat is seen as a way to enhance local traffic safety and help the police department enforce safe speeds while building goodwill between the community and police department. While I love the idea of using art as traffic calming we’re going to need a lot more Slow Down Cats to create any real impact. We need a battalion of Slow Down Cats.

Slow Down Cat moves around town. He gets parked on the side of the road, usually staying in one spot for several days and then moving. To be honest, I often see Slow Down Cat parked in the police station parking lot. I’m not sure how often he is let out.

Unfortunately, parking Slow Down Cat on the side of the road makes it too easy to ignore for a driver. Just like those speed limit signs. However, putting an obstruction in the road is a much more effective way to reduce speeds. If Slow Down Cat were located at the center of the road it would likely have a bigger impact. The army of Slow Down Cats  could be located at intersections, particularly those along Main Street and Healdsburg Avenue. And they could each be a unique design. Slow Down Dog, Slow Down Bear, Slow Down Rocket Ship…I’d put them at every intersection that doesn’t already have a 4-way stop or traffic signal, and maybe even at some of those just for fun. The sculpture could be installed on a concrete platform, like a mini-roundabout. This would remind people to slow down where it’s most important, at intersections where pedestrians are crossing. It would be a relatively inexpensive traffic calming solution which we desperately need, as I discussed previously. And we certainly have space at these excessively wide streets to accomplish it.

The artist of Slow Down Cat lives in Sebastopol and many of his neighbors have his sculptures in their yards. The most common question I receive by visitors to Sebastopol is how to get to the street where the sculptures are. Imagine the impact of having them located up and down our main streets. This is a great tourist attraction and placemaking opportunity as well.

The straight and wide design of the roads in town encourages people to drive fast than the posted speed limit. And we need a traffic calming plan beyond a radar gun, which is the primary means of traffic calming in Sebastopol today. Slow Down Cat is a nice idea, but he needs to be a more widespread presence in order to have a lasting impact. Drivers need constant reminding to keep their speeds down in town. Let’s employ local artists to make more Slow Down fill in the blank and start populating our streets with them. We could have a competition! Drivers will take notice and we’ll all benefit from the slower speeds, and interesting artwork.