Citizen Correpsondence_Pedestrian Crossing at NW Arterial and Pennsylvania Ave.October 2, 2013
Mayor Buol,
I am representing parents of Hempstead High school and Roosevelt middle school
students, neighbors, school officials and concerned citizens. Every day students
and adults crossing the Norwest Arterial at Pennsylvania Avenue are at risk of
being hit by a fast moving car that runs a red light, turns the corner and doesn't
see a pedestrian in the cross walk or comes up the hill at 50 miles per hour and
doesn't see someone in the cross walk.
I have spoken to the crossing guards who assist students on a daily basis who are
concerned that one of these days they won't see a car turning into the cross walk
and a death, that could have been prevented, occurs. Last week my neighbor's
son was in the crosswalk when a car turned In front of him, if not for the crossing
guard seeing the car he would have been hit, not everyone has a crossing guard to
protect them, there are pedestrians crossing at all times of the day and evening.
The traffic on the Northwest Arterial is heavier every year. If we want children to
walk to school and adults to walk and bike for exercise we must give them a safe
crossing at every intersection. The Northwest Arterial crossing at Pennsylvania is
not safe. We are asking the city to provide a safe crossing in the form of a
pedestrian over or under pass. I would like the opportunity to discuss this at the
October 7th, 2013 city council meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Borley
1809 Glenwood Ct.
563 582 -8572
Fri
0
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Mike Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer
DATE: October 7, 2013
RE: Pedestrian Crossing at Northwest Arterial and Pennsylvania Avenue
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2007 • 2012 • 2013
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memorandum is to update you on the pedestrian crossing at
Northwest Arterial and Pennsylvania Avenue.
DISCUSSION
Engineering investigated pedestrian accidents at the intersection between 2002 -2013.
There have been no reported pedestrian accidents at the Northwest Arterial and
Pennsylvania Avenue during this time period. Every year the Type B crosswalks are
re- painted as part of the City's annual pavement marking project.
In 2010, Engineering installed longer turn lanes and updated the pedestrian signals to
the countdown style. Traffic footage was reviewed today, between the hours of 7:00
a.m. and 8:00 a.m., seven pedestrians crossed the Northwest Arterial going east bound
and one pedestrian crossed westbound. Between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.,
two pedestrians crossed the Northwest Arterial eastbound and eleven pedestrians
crossed going westbound. Crossing guards assist pedestrians crossing the intersection
for approximately 30 minutes during school arrival and dismissal times.
Pedestrians are given 47 seconds to cross the Northwest Arterial, 7 seconds to start
crossing the intersection and 40 seconds to clear the intersection. In addition, there is
all red clearance time after the pedestrian crossing time.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN
No action is necessary. This memo is for informational purposes only.
cc: Dave Ness, Civil Engineer
Troy Kress, Engineering Technician
Duane Richter, Traffic Engineer
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Distracted Drivers and Seeing Red on the
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Line
in each issue, the INCITER features an article coordinated by one of the newsletter sponsors.
This article is a contribution from ITEM Ltd.
Laws against driving and cell phone use are struggling to produce compliance and are difficult to en-
force. Distracted drivers are quickly becoming the lowest common denominator when it comes to
grade crossing visibility and design.
Transportation planners and designers alike are increasingly turning to technology to help mitigate the haz-
ards connected with distracted driving.
In 2012,. the National Safety Council published a White Paper demonstrating that two of the more serious
consequences of driving while distracted are tunnel vision and inattention blindness. According to the study
"Distracted drivers experience what researchers call inattention blindness, similar to that of tunnel vision. Driv-
ers are looking out the windshield, but they do not process everything in the roadway environment that they
must know to effectively monitor their surroundings, seek and identify potential hazards, and respond to unex-
pected situations." The study goes on to say that "Drivers talking on hands -free cell phones are more likely to
not see both high and low relevant objects, showing a lack of ability to allocate attention to the most important
information. They miss visual cues critical to safety and navigation. They tend to miss exits, go through red
lights and stop signs, and miss important navigational signage. "1
With these types of concerns in mind the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in California's San Fer-
nando Valley added a touch of red when it came to enhancing grade crossing visibility on their Metro Orange
Line extension.
Marking this dedicated h_ usway, the red in- roadway warning lights are directly in the line of sight creating a visual barrier, focusing the atien-
tion of the driver
incl.:
Distracted Drivers and Seeing Red on the Orange Line (continued from page 12)
The original Orange Line, opened in 2005, ran from Warner Center to North Hollywood and experienced sev-
eral incidents between buses and vehicles that had made their way onto the dedicated bus lanes. And let's
not forget this is well before the cell phone was dramatically "reinvented" to become the indispensable per-
sonal assistant that today is within reach of a high percentage of drivers on the road. The new extension has
several potential conflict points along the right of way and the MTA designers decided to incorporate red in-
roadway warning light stop bars that are designed to target the tunnel vision of distracted drivers and are inte-
grated with the city's signal network to operate in sync with the traditional overhead signal lights.
The in- roadway warning lights' brightness control adjusts the light output to provide highest intensity under
bright daylight, adjusting automatically dimmer for overcast or night time visibility requirements, saving energy
and providing a "'green" system of red lights.
Traditional precautions such as signage and local education remain in place, and red light cameras have been used to catch offenders.