Main Street - Cedar City, Utah
Mid-Block Crosswalk
 

      
This excellent
      crosswalk is a welcome surprise in a small town. State DOTs are
      loathe to allow pedestrian improvements of this sort, even on
      "orphan" highways like Old Highway 91 that were abandoned
      for interstate function years ago. Though this particular route
      was replaced by Interstate-15, local jurisdictions generally
      fight an uphill battle for improvements intended to enforce the
      slower trafffic speeds and restore pedestrian crossings that
      once existed on traditional main streets. Cedar City was also
      fortunate that on-street parking was apparently never removed
      here. Few DOTs allow cities to re-introduce parking once it has
      been phased out in favor of through-traffic -- a fatal blow to
      most main streets. This crossing is located at the site of the
      new civic plaza (left).


      
In this example,
      a floating curb extension allows stormwater to pass along the
      existing curb. This is a practical solution to managing drainage
      and avoiding costly reconstruction of stormwater intakes. This
      crossing design also uses bollards, landscaping, zebra stripes
      and -- most importantly -- a yield sign to mark the crossing
      for motorists. Because Main Street carries four lanes of traffic,
      the pedestrian refuge in the center of the street is another
      key element of this crossing design, allowing walkers to make
      the crossing in two legs. 


      
While the DOT
      (surprisingly) allowed the City to install a gateway sign on
      the refuge, note that curbs along the island are needlessly painted
      with yellow median paint. Applying this "highway" marking
      to the median only increases the maintenance requirements for
      the crossing, and is unlikely to improve motorist safety. A better
      solution would be a raised landscape bed or street trees in the
      median.

      
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 All images
      are ©Tom Kloster, 2002, and may only be used by permission