Drivers and Walkers: How ‘Bout Those New Crosswalks?
Decatur Metro | February 1, 2010Now that the city has installed all seven new faux-brick crosswalks across the city, I’d love to hear some feedback from both motorists and pedestrians on what they think of those slightly elevated, slightly textured walking lanes.
I’m especially interested in hearing opinions about the one I traveled over (on wheels) this morning: West Howard @ Adair St. Thus far, crosswalk monitor Andisheh Nouraee doesn’t sound impressed.
New brick crosswalk at Adair & W. Howard thus far has no noticeable effect on speeders. They still fly by.
And from what I recall reading somewhere at some point, Mr. Wang isn’t all that impressed with driver-calming at the South Candler additions.
And in addition to observations of others, do you find yourself driving any slower through these areas/intersections?
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I’m not a vehicular behavioral psychologist, but I don’t think people are going to slow down there until there’s a traffic light, or a flaming moat. Most drivers aren’t cruel or nasty people. They simply don’t know that it’s the law to stop. And even if they do, it doesn’t always feel comfortable to stop when you’re going 45MPH, there’s no traffic light, and you’ve got a bunch of cars on your tail.
I believe everything you need to know about that intersection is summed up with this little fact: there are TWO crossing guards there helping school kids safely walk across that one crosswalk.
The city knows how treacherous it is, so it wisely assigns two guards to keep kids from getting hit.
As much as I nag about how lousy it is to cross, I still think the intersection is actually far more dangerous to drivers than it is to walkers. I’ve seen and heard many car accidents (and many more near misses). The strange intersection angles created by the rail crossing mess with drivers’ lines of sight. Pedestrians at that crosswalk have a better view than drivers.
Oooooo…flaming moats! Wouldn’t it be cool if the crosswalks could shoot flames up on either side whenever a pedestrian stepped foot onto it? Hey, they’re wide enough that you wouldn’t get burned– that is, if you stayed pretty much in the middle. Plus, avoiding having one’s car flamed would be an even better deterrent than those “Stop for Pedstrians in Crosswalk” signs.
Yes, yes, I know– impractical, as well as impracticable. But the mental images were quite entertaining.
very entertaining! on the impracticality scale, reminds me of my idea (which I’m sure others have had) to arm all pedestrians with paint pistols.
I’d love a flaming moat. Or elevated sidewalks like in parts of Europe, Tokyo, and Taiwan. Which would be more expensive?
One thing the city could start to do, on a regular basis, is to enforce the speed limit on Howard. One problem, I’ve been told by someone with the city, is that the state does not recognize our 30 MPH speed limit. The state considers this a 35 MPH road. Still, at 35-40 MPH it is not that difficult to pay attention and stop when necessary.
Once you see the crosswalk, you’ve already crossed it, right? So you’ve already run over whomever was in it. I don’t think faux-brick makes it any more visible. I don’t know about everyone else, but those poor signs in the middle of the road do a better job, even though they’ve obviously taken many hits.
Aren’t there supposed to be wide white lines outlining the crosswalks? That’s how the one in front of Parker’s on Ponce is, so maybe all of ‘em are not quite complete. Without the lines, the brick actually makes the crosswalk more difficult to see, especially at night. Seems like a crucial element.
I like the super-wide crosswalks at the intersection of Clairmont and Ponce — those in particular are a great addition.
I agree, the lines are neeed.
I don’t know if I am more aware of pedestrians, but I do know that I think of you, DM, every time I cross one.
If Decatur is willing to spend the money on the crosswalks, they can replace the broken signs in the middle of the road. I honestly do watch carefully for those walking towards or waiting at a crosswalk, but the only things slowing me down currently are the potholes on N. Candler that are starting to appear before the 2nd crosswalk. Another vote for needing the white lines, or at least some ‘trim color’.
I was on the scene after a pedestrian was struck in the S. Candler cross walk. All I can say is that I’m glad they are doing something.
I will check into the white lines, but I’m pretty sure they will install those as well. The pedestrian advocates pretty much demand them as those lines go a long way towards identifying the cross walk to a driver.
Mr. Boykin, can’t we have some flaming moats? Pleeeeeease?
Only if they’re solar-powered.
The striping is scheduled to be installed tomorrow (Tuesday).
I have ridden over most of them with my bi and tri cycles. They are not very ‘raised”, IMO, barely a bump, and I do not have suspension. When the stripes are painted, it will help. Can they still have the signs?? All three should help. I am wondering how the residents with wheelchairs and walkers like these…..
Bring on the white stripes, please.
I was nearly run over by a church van trying to cross S. Candler a few minutes ago.
(Insert bad holy roller pun here.)
You were almost hit by a vessel?
I like em! They help highlight ped crossing and adds just a touch more character to the town imo…
Funny you should ask, DM. I freaked out when I thought the crosswalk at Adair and W. Howard had been “removed.” I looked back in my rear view mirror and couldn’t see it! I told myself to bring up its invisibility next Free For All Friday. . . . I am SO happy to hear it will be striped.
Forget flaming moats, my first choice would be like a Saturday Night Fever style light-up floor!
(with” Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive” blaring when you cross it!)
And the sign at the crossing could have the Tony Manero finger-pointing silhouette, instead of the usual pedestrian crossing logo on it!
They make the pedestrian more “officially recognised” as a road user which is a good thing.
However, even cautiously driving down Ponce, it’s impossible to guess when a ped is going to cross or just stand there waiting for a friend. There desperately needs to be a demand signal activated by a pedestrian who actually wants to cross.
(Better even if that signal is a 14″ steel I beam that crosses the road at windshield level.)
can’t we just get the police out there more to stop drivers who do not yield to pedestrians in the crosswalks? get a ticket once, and i’m pretty sure most drivers will remember next time.
Words said to me yesterday by my wife, after returning home yesterday during rush hour:
“I stopped today [on W. Howard at Adair] for someone to cross. The car behind me slammed its brakes, held down its horn, and I could see the guy cursing me in my mirror. The cars in the other lane just kept going.”
In other words, actually following the law is an annoyance, and possibly a hazard – for pedestrians, and drivers.”
The same has happened to me. I’ve stopped for a pedestrian there and had the cars behind zoom around me.
Lines and signs aren’t going to change that intersection. People treat W. Howard like a highway.
The best solution is a traffic light.
I couldn’t agree more. Pedestrian activated light–nothing less will suffice.
The only thing that motivated the City of Atlanta to put in a crosswalk AND light front of the Woodruff Arts Center was for an elderly patron to get killed crossing illegally.
Not sure what would motivate DeKalb County. (which I assume would be the one that would have to install a light)
They need a cop at the Howard crossing in the morning. It infuriates me when drivers speed through a clearly-marked school zone. The cops are all over the Clairemont school zone, but I’ve never seen one on W. Howard. and I agree, they need a light. You also risk your life crossing Clairemont at the crossing. Drivers rarely slow down on that road as well.
I often see police officers at the W. Howard crosswalk. It’s also one of the places where they yell at speeders coming over the crest of that hill from the west.
Hmm, yelling wasn’t quite I had in mind. I was more in favor of ‘ticketing.’
I’d like to see them beat their chests with their fists, whilst bellowing out the “Tarzan” yell at the top of their lungs. People would probably slow down just to witness the spectacle (and THEN get nabbed to be ticketed).
Oh, those are crosswalks? From the actions of most drivers on S. Candler St. they’re more like launch ramps. Law enforcement promotes a ‘crack down’ on drunk driving throughout the holiday season. Perhaps a DPD crackdown on crosswalk infractions and speeding within the city limits is in order.
In case you have not noticed, Officer Lindsey, Decatur’s two-wheeled trooper, has been writing tickets right and left.
On an only partially related note, Officer Lindsey stopped me because my six year old found it fun and exciting to push his seat belt to the max and hang out the back window like a dog. The officer was just making sure the seat belt was on, and talked directly to my son about car safety.
I liked Officer Lindsey immensely, as he was polite, and took the time to speak to my son without intimidating him. And I didn’t get a ticket (because he did have his seat belt on).
Another dangerous crosswalk is the one on Lavista in front of Congregation Beth Jacob. Most of the people walk to temple instead of drive and are trying to cross at dusk during Friday rush hour. I have seen father’s bravely walk into the crossing and wildly wave their arms so their wife and children can run across—and this crossing has a flashing yellow light!
Wonder if Officer Lindsey can ticket that truck parked on Adair next to the church with the Montana ( I believe..some state, but NOT GEORGIA) that has not had Georgia stickers in the last four years that I have been passing by it. I think it belongs to a nearby homeowner. I think there is some law about having your vehicles tagged in the state in which they operate, and you have so much time to do that after moving to Georgia, unless it is inoperable or on your own private property. The main reason I have noticed this is that the truck is often parked very close to the corner of Adair and W. Howard and can create a traffic problem for folks entering/exiting Adair.
In addition to the pedestrian controlled lights at mid-block crossings, how about we give all Decatur streets a road diet? No more than one lane going each way. It is vastly safer to cross two lanes of traffic as a pedestrian than 3 or 4. When Church St was trimmed down, everyone jumped up and down and yelled and screamed about the big ‘ol traffic jams we were going to have. Well, we now know that’s not such a huge problem. Keep those road diets coming!
It’s funny the “flaming moats” idea reminded me of this, but when I was in Ireland (galway) I noticed they had an ingenious crosswalk setup. On each side of the street was a candy striped pole with a domed blinking light (regular light, not strobe) notifying drivers of the crosswalk. Something like this would work a lot better than a tiny sign in the middle of the road in my opinion.
Flaming moats don’t sound very eco-friendly…
I said earlier that they needed to be solar powered.
We could re-use the grease from local eateries. But that doesn’t address the air pollution.
how about faux flaming moats?