Biking and Walking - Crosswalks

Slowing Traffic | Sidewalks | Crosswalks | Bike Routes

Crosswalks Should Be Convenient
If we can't get across the streets safely, we find ourselves living on "residential islands." Well-designed crosswalks are the answer.

Crosswalks need to be situated frequently enough so that the pedestrian is not encouraged to dart out into the traffic lanes during a break in the traffic. If pedestrians are faced with a 1/4-mile hike to the next crosswalk, they will most likely choose their own crossing points.

Crosswalks can be controlled (with signals) or uncontrolled, depending on the amount of traffic on a street. On wider streets, crosswalks can be joined with crossing islands. Set them at an angle so that pedestrians will slightly face the approaching traffic.

Crosswalk Striping
Visibility is key to a safe crosswalk design. Motorists must be aware that they are approaching a crosswalk. Different striping patterns aid viability for the motorist. Here are several designs that can be seen by motorists. Often, a crosswalk simply needs to be re-painted in order to increase the safety level for pedestrians.

Low-Cost Crosswalk Improvements
Salt Lake City, Utah, has had great success in lowering their pedestrian injury rate, using primarily low cost measures at crosswalk locations. They started a crosswalk flags and an "adopt a crosswalk" program.

Their report notes "Perhaps the most dramatic pedestrian safety initiative has been one of the most basic: the installation of orange flags at crosswalks."

Pedestrians pick up a flag on one side of the crosswalk, and drop it off at a holder on the opposite side. From the initial six locations in August 2000, the program has grown to 154 locations. Eighty-three of the crosswalks have been "adopted" by residents and businesses that make sure the flag stands are stocked. Another thirty-one crosswalks have been adopted by schools.

Countdown Signals
Countdown signals are a particular favorite in Salt Lake. Since testing a timer in the fall of 2000, they have installed more than 1,000 of the signals. But they didn't stop there. They have also adopted an ordinance that allows pedestrians to legally initiate a crossing during the flashing DON'T WALK clearance phase at all crosswalks equipped with countdown timers.

See the Resources box below for more on the Salt Lake City pedestrian safety program

Roadway Widths
Streets are often wider than they need to be for the amount of traffic they carry. For pedestrians and bicyclists trying to cross a street, roadway width is important. Not all people walk at the same rate:

- Pedestrians typically walk between 150 and 350 feet per minute.
- Older pedestrians and children generally fall in the lower range
- Young adults fall in the upper range.

A 6-lane roadway may be 72 feet or more from curb to curb. So, many of the most vulnerable pedestrians (children and seniors) will only be able to cross about half of such a street in one minute. And traffic signals seldom give pedestrians that much time.

Wide roadways often make good candidates for a "road diet." In other words, it may be converted from, say, a 4-lane road to a 3-lane road with a center turn lane, bike lanes, and wider sidewalks and still carry the traffic safely.

Other options include:

- installing raised median "refuges" in the center of the road so that pedestrians and bicyclists can cross in two stages;
- creating curb extensions or "curb bulbs" at intersections. This treatment lessens the "crossing distance" a pedestrian must cross to remain clear of traffic.

You may see a combination of these and other treatments in a pedestrian-oriented area.

Resources

- Salt Lake City Pedestrian Program Report | Online Resource
- Crosswalk Flags | Online Resource
- Crosswalk Flags PDF | PDF 151KB
- Pedestrian Facility Design, FHWA | PDF 208KB

Note: You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read the items listed above. If you don't have Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer, you can get it here.