For those that are curious, the reason for the closing of Sharp Street is Otakon, an annual convention that brings millions to the Baltimore economy, but also brings thousands of pre-teens, teens and young adults that tend not to be aware of their surroundings.

The entire convention center is used - many attendees will use Sharp Street to get from one side of the convention center to the other. I understand closing it during the week - rush hour traffic trying to get to 95 vs. thousands of addled teens, it could get ugly - but why isn't it closed on the weekend, as well? There are more attendees on Saturday than on Friday, and traffic is just as heavy through there. As a long-time attendee, I've seen more than my fair share of accidents at the corner of Sharp and Pratt, including one in which an attendee dressed as Space Ghost crossed Sharp at the corner (instead of the crosswalk) and was hit by a car turning from Pratt Street. I could get into the odd placement of the crosswalk, but that's another conversation - the civic engineering for pedestrians on Pratt Street alone makes me scratch my head.

I use the skywalk when I can, but there are some rooms that can only be accessed through the Sharp Street lobby. I wait for the light to change at the crosswalk when I have to cross there (and it seems like some drivers aren't aware that there is a light in the middle).