It may not look like much, but it’s an improvement, two crosswalks instead of one, new crossing lights, and paved walkways on the corners (notable since my neighborhood has no sidewalks). The intersection is finally becoming a walker’s corner.

For weeks this summer workers busied themselves erecting poles, stringing wires, pouring concrete. I couldn’t figure it out at first. All I knew was that traffic funneled into one lane and it took longer to get through the light.

But then they finished up and the mess made sense, though it seems an empty gesture in some ways. My area is more walkable than it used to be, but it’s no walker’s paradise. I routinely drive to walk because it’s more pleasant to stroll when you aren’t fanned by 60-mile-an-hour tailwinds.

But every effort helps, and this corner has long needed some love. If pedestrianism is part of the picture, so much the better.