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chmod775 | on: Guerrilla bike lanes: San Francisco makes illicit infrastructure permanent (2016)
Students at my university in Berlin need to cross a busy road to travel between campus areas, which meant jaywalking or a long trip to a crossing with traffic lights down the road. A steady stream of students late to their next class sprinting across a six lane road is not great.

At some point students started painting their own crosswalk, which would be removed again and again by authorities, until the city eventually got the hint and installed a permanent crosswalk with a traffic light and a pedestrian island.

Sometimes the way to get something is fixed is by demonstrating the fix.

michaelt | parent | next
One such report (in German): https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2025/10/zebrastreifen-e... in Eberswalde; apparently firefighters were called in to remove the paint but were unsuccessful in their attempts to wash away the white stripes, and police launched an investigation into suspected interference with road traffic.

And another in Dresden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQUpQZAeA3w https://www.diesachsen.de/en/politics/a-zebra-crossing-in-dr... "In the summer of 2025, unknown individuals painted a crosswalk on the roadway along the busy street in Neustadt to provide safe access to the Heinrich Schütz Conservatory. The city promptly blocked off the crossing with warning cones [...] stating that unauthorized crosswalks constitute not only property damage but also a dangerous interference with traffic. Furthermore, traffic signs installed without authorization constitute an administrative offense under the Road Traffic Code."

In Los Angeles https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-10-16/risking-... "Risking arrest, he paints illicit crosswalks across L.A. ‘We can’t wait any longer’" (initially repainting faded crosswalks, rather than creating new ones)

And an example in Saskatoon, visible only in the 2015 street view image https://maps.app.goo.gl/3zWAkjtSEATswcWm8

lukan | root | parent | next
"dangerous interference with traffic"

Indeed, it could lead to cars slowing down and who could want that in Autoland germany.

DocTomoe | root | parent
The Straftatbestand (§ 315b StGB) exists for all alterations of traffic. After all, you could conceivably start to manipulate traffic lights [1], remove STOP-signs or erect low-visibility barriers.

[1] https://medium.com/asecuritysite-when-bob-met-alice/traffic-...

lukan | root | parent
And this is what would be dangerous. But adding a crosswalk is not, if the law says otherwise it is a bad law.
Quimoniz | root | parent
Haha, Dresden.

Just next street, 6 years ago, some guys painted a Zebrastreifen, and got charged for Serious interference with road traffic: https://www.dnn.de/lokales/dresden/falscher-zebrastreifen-in...

(do note that "serious" or "schwer" (lit. heavy) is a qualifier in german law, that increases the charges significantly. The serious part here is that it isn't some alteration that can be immediately removed (e.g. a traffic cone))

Update on that other situation in the district of Neustadt that you mentioned: The city actually just completed a legal crosswalk there, just last week. Here's the article by our public broadcast: https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/dresden/dresden-radeb...

Someone | parent | next
Similarly, tweaking a cycle path with duct tape: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0ziqlGgc8_k.

A few days later, the city council made this change permanent.

That may be because this is a clearer win for everybody involved.

keiferski | parent | next
That's essentially a desire path, in crosswalk form:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_path

robaato | root | parent | next
The architect Christopher Alexander documented this in "Alexander, C. (1975). The Oregon Experiment. New York: Oxford University Press" - one of the foundations for the whole Pattern Language movement which strongly influenced software design.
jraph | root | parent
Actively painting the desire path is next level though ':)
c7b | root | parent
There's a cool project where desire paths were intentionally planned and paved later: https://popupcity.net/radar/elephant-paths-paving-the-way-fo...
jraph | root | parent
It's not the first time I run into this idea, it's indeed probably a great way to design paths!
OuterVale | root | parent
Pretty good way to design software, too. See what users do, then make that thing or make it better.

Of course, this is isn't perfect -- the user doesn't always know what they want.

gobdovan | parent | next
Dangerous game. In Romania at least, even fixing a pothole would get you a fine, possible jail time and requirement to unfix it.

[0] https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/comuna-unde-fostul...

[1] https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/situatie-absurda-i...

[2] https://www.antena3.ro/actualitate/locale/satul-sa-astepte-d...

classictraffic | root | parent | next
Guerrilla urbanism is pretty much illegal to do everywhere, including in the article's subject city of San Francisco. The goal is to not get caught by authorities while doing it
gobdovan | root | parent | next
Of course it's formally illegal. My point is that, while in SF authorities accepted and formalised an intervention, in other parts of the world there's a real threat of criminal proceedings, and not for modifying traffic infrastructure significantly, but for FILLING A POTHOLE.
wahern | root | parent | next
Other interventions haven't been met so kindly. For example, last year after California passed a state-wide law banning street parking within 15 feet of an intersection (to improve visibility of pedestrians), some people tried to paint curbs (red curbs mark prohibited parking), frustrated the city was acting too slowly to repaint curbs everywhere. I don't remember if they were ever caught, but presumably they would have received a fine as it caused alot of headaches--it cast doubt on the validity of many parking fines issued after the law took effect as the parking enforcers couldn't know which curbs had been officially repainted, yet.

As for the guerilla bike lane on JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, that entire 1-mile section of JFK was later closed off to cars entirely. It required a city-wide ballot initiative, IIRC, and was very contentious. But the city government was in favor of it, which may have something to do with why they were so accommodating earlier with the bike lane.

tverbeure | root | parent
> It required a city-wide ballot initiative, IIRC, and was very contentious.

It's still very contentious and was on the ballot again yesterday to undo the previous ballot measure and make it available to car again. The proposal to undo was defeated.

ReaLNero | root | parent | next
Seems like what’s different is that in Romania, the administration views it as an insult. In the US, it’s viewed as a political issue (comfort of cyclists vs drovers).
gobdovan | root | parent
You're onto something. Of course, the cases I linked were pretty different and there's a mix of institutional rigidity in there, but that's how I'd interpret the Romanian attitude as well.
lazide | root | parent
Did you not see the ‘do not be caught while doing it’ part?
gobdovan | root | parent
Besides completely missing the fact that I'm pointing out different attitudes and what happens if you get caught, how does "just don't get caught" not apply equally to something like murder?
cowlevel | root | parent | next
Murder makes the world worse, but guerilla road painting done right makes it better. So the advice for road painting is "do it right and don't get caught" while the advice for murder is instead "don't do it"
lazide | root | parent
Depends on if eventually everyone would want the person you murdered murdered or not, eh?

I present… [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy]

Nice slippery slope, btw.

I bet Romania has something similar.

jcattle | root | parent | next
As some guerilla gardeners like to call it, it's not illegal, it's pre-legal.
senkora | root | parent | next
Society is relatively lenient towards college students being mischievous.

It helps that colleges have their own police forces with a standing directive to not be too harsh on students.

Although maybe that’s a US thing? We are a weird country.

hinkley | root | parent | next
Unfortunately that’s also how the Seven got away with it like generations before them. I’ve been wondering lately if the private force is a net negative on society.
gobdovan | root | parent
Could be a US thing, but that's very cool to hear that!
ndsipa_pomu | root | parent
Here in the UK, it seems the best way to get potholes fixed is to paint a penis around it: https://themanc.com/art-and-culture/manchester-graffiti-arti...
nautilius | parent | next
There is no such thing as 'jaywalking' in Germany.
gabrielhidasy | root | parent | next
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stvo_2013/__25.html "(3) Pedestrians must cross roadways quickly and by taking the shortest route perpendicular to the direction of travel, taking care to avoid vehicular traffic. If traffic density, speed, visibility, or traffic flow so requires, a roadway may only be crossed at intersections or junctions, at traffic lights within markings, at pedestrian crossing aids, or at pedestrian crossings (sign 293). When crossing the roadway at intersections or junctions, pedestrian crossings or markings at traffic lights must always be used."

Maybe there's no penalty, but a 6 lane road probably has traffic density/speed/flow enough to get to the "may only be crossed at intersections or junctions"

holgerschurig | root | parent
That law isn't about jaywalking. The concept of the US-english word "jay" doesn't exist ). There is no german language equivalent.

Also, this is one of the paragraphs that is just there. It's not enforced. Do you know any German that ever get fined for it? Is the police out with cameras looking for slow pedestrians? Naa, they are out with cameras looking for too speedy cars instead!

) maybe "Landei" ? But it's never used in traffic context. We simply had a car-lobby creating vile words to modify law-makers behavior like it happened in the USA at ca. 1910.

nukanse | root | parent | next
Buenos Aires has much better solution: pedestrians carry crosswalk lines in their imagination, and they can apply them anywhere it's needed, at zero cost to the municipality.
walthamstow | root | parent | next
You'd never know that from the way that Germans and Austrians will stand at a red crossing signal on a completely clear road
b3orn | root | parent | next
Crossing a street at a red traffic light as a pedestrian can get you a fine. Crossing a road far enough from a traffic light won't.
holgerschurig | root | parent
No, it doesn't. I live in Germany since forever (born here), in many different regions. Never ever got a fine, never ever saw or heard people that got a fine. At most the police gives a warning, if they even notice.

For me a pedestrian traffic sign is a hint that I can now go. But it certainly isn't a requisite. If the street is empty of traffic AND if there are no little kids around, then I'll just go.

Why not little kids? We know from science that they can't judge the speed and distance of cars. When I can see "The car is far away and slow", they don't really know. So I don't want a bad example to them. And that makes you able to observe me at a red traffic light with a completely free street --- kids might be around!

robaato | root | parent
Got a warning once for doing the English thing of wandering across - I was setting a bad example for the kids!
watwut | root | parent
They cross at red. I have seen that.
ishouldstayaway | root | parent | next
The word "jaywalking" is often used colloquially to refer to crossing the street anywhere that isn't a controlled crossing; it's not always strictly referring to the law.
culi | root | parent | next
The term itself was made up by the US auto industry in the 1920s in an attempt to shift blame of traffic fatalities towards pedestrians. And it worked. Before that, streets (which are built by the state) belonged to everyone and drivers were almost always held responsible for accidents.

They made up the term jaywalking by combining "walking" with the term "jay" which was a slang term for a country bumpkin or idiot from out of town. They hired actors to spread the slur to refer to those out of towners that don't know how to "properly" behave around streets in a modern city. They even paid Boy Scouts to hand out warning cards and staged mock funerals

ishouldstayaway | root | parent
Yes, I know. But few people are aware of this history; it doesn't change what I said.
hinkley | root | parent
“Jaywalking” is partially a psyop by the burgeoning automobile industry to blame the victims instead of the drivers.

I suppose it didn’t work that well because as a rule a car or bike hitting a pedestrian is still almost always at fault.

culi | root | parent
It worked incredibly well. The word "jay" is a slur used to refer to "country bumpkins" or out-of-town idiots. They paid actors to spread the slur and even staged mock funerals until their newly made up slur spread and people started calling each other that.

All of this led to the 1928 Model Municipal Traffic Ordinance and notably a lot of laws in LA that shifted the liability to pedestrians instead of motorists.

Today if you "jaywalk" in most of the country you get called an asshole. It was an incredibly successful act of social engineering

hinkley | root | parent
They also killed mass transit so let’s call it a draw.
cowlevel | root | parent
That's two losses for us and two wins for them
watwut | root | parent
Downvoted, but true. If there is no crosswalk, you can cross. But, it might be dangerous or impossible as cars have right of way.
hinkley | parent | next
The origin story for the Union Jack-inspired sidewalks on my university’s quad was the president looking out his window on a snowy day and seeing all of the footprints in the snow and asking the facilities to put diagonals in.

Guess some schools have wiser faculty than others.

elictronic | root | parent
The city and the school are different management structures. The issue is the mayor of the city isn’t focused solely on the school nor should he be. But this means change takes longer.
cowlevel | parent | next
In Germany! That's a dangerous place to be breaking the law. I hope they knew what they were doing.
holgerschurig | root | parent
No, actually it's less dangerous to break the law in Germany than in the USA.

In USA, the fines are often higher. And damages to be paid are WAY WAY HIGHER. If you do a criminal offense, then you get way more years in prison in the USA than in Germany. The police treats you even worse in the USA than in Germany.

So if you break the law ... then better do it in Germany.

Also, go around in Germany and ask germans "Did you ever get a fine for walking just over the read? Or by walking over the road when the pedestrian light was red?". I'll wage 50€ that it will take you more than a day until you find the first occurrence. Ask around "Have you ever got speed ticket in a car" will get you however instant answers.

You guys blow some imaginative danger out of proportion. And I really wonder if there is ONE country with laws that written but no one looks after? Isn't that usual? We even have german saying on this: "Papier ist geduldig".

holgerschurig | root | parent
Fun fact: in the USA, each year the various police forces KILL more people than in Germany the various police forces shoot. Where the german police shoots include warning shoots, or killing a dangerous boar. And this "way higher" even holds if we normalize the numbers by population count.

Incarceration rate in the USA is also way higher than in Germany.

I'd wager people to come up with verifiable statistics where "breaking law" is more dangerous than in USA. They probably exist, in niche areas. Would still be fun to learn.

junon | parent | next
This wouldn't be Ernst-Reuter-Platz would it?
dooglius | parent
Did they ever actually try and do things the proper way (e.g. file a request, show up to a town hall)? Because that may have actually been easier.
alistairSH | root | parent | next
As somebody who did try to get a crosswalk near my home, I can say with some degree of certainty that calling the local DOT is generally a lost cause.

A bit of backstory... My little cluster of townhomes sits beside a 35mph, wide (was 4 lanes, reduced to 2+bike lanes), busy suburban road. Cars regularly go 50mph because the road is wide and smooth and 50 feels right. People have died crossing the road (2 in the 7 years I've lived here). There's a bus stop on both sides of the intersection, housing on both sides, a park on one side down a block, and a golf course on the other side, also one block down.

The response from VDOT was essentially "there's currently no proof of pedestrian need" This despite bus stops, parks, and housing existing. And pedestrian deaths. And frequently seeing with my own eyes people dashing across the road, trying not to get squished,

It's complete idiocy from the various traffic planning orgs. It's 100% car-first, consequences be damned. Bike lanes are added reluctantly, and usually as a requirement to get federal funding; little attention paid to utility... did I mention the bike lanes on the road above go "nowhere"? They literally end several blocks on either side of the local school complex, start again, then stop before the local shopping center. So you can't actually use them to get anywhere you'd want to go.

Mawr | root | parent
"there's currently no proof of pedestrian need"

Well of course. Just how there's no proof of "train need" before tacks get built. Why do we ever build tracks if there is no preexisting train traffic to justify the need?!

elictronic | root | parent | next
Getting transient college students to engage with the slow process of government is difficult.

The college students also generally don’t vote in that location lowering the desire of public government to engage with them as much. Again transient. You’re right to ask but I’m guessing this was the primary issue.

holgerschurig | root | parent
Wasn't the context here in Germany, where the executive finally made a zebra crossing?

* We don't have "college students". We have however real students, e.g. in University.

* Over here it's not custom to go with micro-management problems to an elected person, e.g. to the member of parliament of your area. Whenever I see the (partially propaganda) shows where russians ask the dictator Putin about day-to-day things and they even air this yearly in the TV I cringe. Or when I see in US movies that people go with low things to their congressman... that simple isn't custom in Germany. And thus the elected people are much LESS likely looking if people wanting something would elect them or not.

* Normally it is the executive, not the legislative, that decides over these matters. In Germany, the executive isn't elected by the public.

* In Germany we have the idea of "main point of living" (Hauptwohnsitz) and "secondary point of living" (Zweitwohnsitz). And in quite a few towns you have to pay an extra-tax on the Zweitwohnsitz. There are ways to mitigate this, but the easiest solution as a student is just to take your Hauptwohnsitz at your university town. And there you can then vote (you can't vote at your Zweitwohnsitz). And so it happens that the town magistrates of student towns are usually a bit different than of "normal" towns, e.g. the town mayors from the green party. All these young students voting more for this party than e.g. the german liberals.

So, all in all, from the POV of the story in Berlin ... little of what you wrote made sense. Except your first sentence. Infrastructure building is a slow, a tremendously slow process in Germany (however, once we have it, it's usual very nice. We germans call shit on our railway ... but it's lightyears better than e.g. the US railways system!). And even a zebra crossing falls under the infrastructure categorization.

chmod775 | root | parent | next
Given the expertise of the faculty, fair chance that happened - and possibly that was what really prompted the city to eventually build a crosswalk. Plus many former students likely ended up in exactly the positions that would make these decisions.

Doesn't make for a good story though. What I relayed above has become university lore. Its accuracy is hard to judge decades later.

embedding-shape | root | parent
Easier than everyone just doing nothing and jaywalking until magically a crosswalk appear? Doesn't sound like it to me, law of least effort and all that.