What Happened?
To become less car-dependent and more appealing to young professionals, municipalities are investing in pedestrian-friendly innovations that help walkers and cyclists gain more control how they navigate the community. These developments are increasing safety and supporting an increasingly multimodal population.
Diagonal Crosswalks
Los Angeles, a notoriously car-centric city, is considering implementing a new initiative that would provide pedestrians with more advantages at major crosswalks. The city is looking to build diagonal crosswalks that provide safer pathways for pedestrians, despite being annoying for motorists, the LA Times reported.
The potential diagonal crosswalks come after several other initiatives deployed in Los Angeles to reduce the number of cars on the road and support more pedestrians and cyclists such as building parklets and bike lanes.
Diagonal crosswalks do not eliminate any parking or shrink lane size, but rather bring all traffic in the intersection to a halt so pedestrians can cross in every direction at the same time. The principle behind diagonal crosswalks prioritizes the flow of foot traffic over that of car traffic, providing more opportunities for walkers to safely cross busy roadways. While motorists must wait longer at red lights in these intersections, pedestrians enjoy significant safety benefits.
Several years ago Chicago launched its Pedestrian Plan that included pilot testing a diagonal crosswalk at busy downtown intersection with significant foot traffic. The city is working to improve pedestrian safety after about 3,000 vehicle crashes involving walkers were reported annually. If the diagonal crosswalks prove to have a positive impact on pedestrian safety the city may add more in other neighborhoods, Time Out Chicago reported.
Intersection Designs
Historically, crosswalks were designed with motorists in mind, not pedestrians. Inspired by research on car and pedestrian accidents, many new intersection designs are making it safer for walkers and cyclists:
- Protected Left Turns: Left turns are a main cause of pedestrian deaths across the country. Drivers are reportedly more distracted when making a left turn without a protected lane in which to do so. When protected left turn lanes are added, the green turn arrow is lit up when pedestrians are not crossing, rather than allowing walkers and turners to go at the same time.
- Pedestrian Head Starts: Intersections can also allow an interval of pedestrian walk time before the signal to motorists changes. This can increase pedestrian visibility for motorists and reduce conflicts between walkers and turning cars.
- Raised Crossings and Intersections: When a crosswalk or entire intersection is elevated, similar to a speed bump, it can slow down traffic and make pedestrians taller and easier to see.
- Neckdowns: Also known as curb extensions, move the curb out into the intersection to reduce traffic lanes. In doing so, the neckdowns reduce the distance pedestrians have to walk to cross the street. This design slows down traffic and increases safety for slower pedestrians.
- Protected Intersection: These designs extend bike lanes into the intersection and create corner refuge islands that act like neckdowns with a bike lane running through it. Adding these elements to all four corners reduces pedestrian crossing distances while protecting bike lanes through the intersection.
Keeping walker safety in mind when designing intersections is growing increasingly important. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the pedestrian population in the U.S. increased by more than 24 million between 2005 and 2010, and continues to grow. In 2010, 4,302 pedestrian fatalities were reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, underscoring the need for more pedestrian safety initiatives.
Walkers First
Gov1 has reported on many pedestrian-friendly initiatives that leverage new designs and mobile technology to improve the safety and efficiency of roadways.