At Green Lake

Lives intersect

A four-way traffic stop is part social contract, part negotiation, part attention-span test.

But the 12-lane four-way intersection at the eastern bend of Green Lake, from where roads splay like tentacles from and to irregular directions, is a vortex of ambiguity and split-second decisions about whether or not to go for it.

The junction becomes more intense at about 6 on a sunny weekday night when folks try to skirt past on their way home or arrive to wedge themselves onto the park's fields and path. They all pull up, regard each other for a second or two, then chug off. And each shows a glimpse of his or her personality:

The Intimidator: Hey, man, I'm going. Dare doubt me?

The Wallflower: How can I be SURE I was here before that guy?

The Bluffer: Just ACT like I was here first.

The Oblivious: Huh? Ninety percent of the time, a cell phone is involved.

The Honker: MOVE!

The Waver: Go ahead, friend, I'm in no hurry (usually just in front of the honker).

The Bicyclist: Also known as Mr. Unpredictable.

But pedestrians are the ones who throw off this traffic hip-hop. When they enter the crosswalk, however tentative and apologetic, they offset the balance and delicate sense of order about who was first. Sometimes, that leads to four cars meeting in the center of the ultra-wide intersection, where the real negotiation begins.

Yet, for all that can go wrong here, where East Green Lake Way North, Northeast 71st Street and Ravenna Boulevard unite, it works most of the time. And when it's working particularly well, it produces a somewhat lovely, if smelly, sprinkler-like dance.