No Ped Crossing

What's up with these things?

I know, the obvious reason for these barricades is to stop pedestrians from crossing where it's unsafe. But why is it unsafe? Seems like a cheap remedy for poor traffic engineering at the expense of walkers. I'd like to see Santa Rosa make it a policy to phase these out everywhere it's feasible to do so, even if it means adding some traffic calming measures like bulbouts (curb extensions) at corners.

There are certain corners where I think the pedestrian barricades make no sense. See for example the west side of the intersection of Steele Lane and County Center Drive. If you're at the bail bond shop on the southwest corner and you want to visit the mini-mart or fast food joint (ah, the cultural richness that is Santa Rosa!) on the northwest corner, you have to cross east, then north, then west, each time waiting for a traffic signal, rather than cross a single street. If the people who design and build these things had to live with the consequences every day, they wouldn't stand it for a minute.