Crosswalk Warning Lights: Wrong Location?
Though a student was hit by a car and injured on this stretch of Chew Street in 2009
, it does seem that intersections near hospitals and other facilities with greater proportions of older, slower-moving pedestrians (including those in wheelchairs) should get priority consideration in selecting sites for these improvements.
Though Allentown has no current plans to add any of these devices, city Public Works Director Rich Young agreed that the type of pedestrian traffic would be a factor to consider in choosing the most worthy locations. As it happens, officials at the B'nai B'rith senior housing apartments at 1616 Liberty St. plan to add a similar system on Liberty between 16th and 17th, Young said a location that clearly meets your criteria, Don. B'nai B'rith is using its own money for the work, at no expense to the city, Young said.
B'nai B'rith Administrator Bob Sipos said that while researching the issue, officials were impressed by LED systems they saw that are similar to Muhlenberg's, and determined that the safety improvement would more than justify the expense. They hope to install the system this spring.
Various pedestrian-warning systems are available from different manufacturers. As described in a recent story by my colleague Devon Lash, the Muhlenberg system uses an infrared "electric eye" to detect pedestrians as they pass between bollards on both sides of the crosswalk entrance, automatically illuminating a pair of flashing-amber LED lights attached to large bright-green pedestrian-crossing signs. A computer-generated voice repeatedly warns, "cross street with caution; vehicles may not stop."
The system hardware cost $32,000, college Capital Projects Manager David Rabold said. Installation, including changes to the sidewalk ramps, raised the total to a sticker-shocking $70,000. At that rate, the college will be able to install no more than three systems, and there are six crosswalks along Chew Street between 23rd and 26th streets. That might not be so bad, since PennDOT believes that multiple flashers in a short distance could create a sort of sensory overload. "Visual overlap and overuse of devices can lead to motorist distraction, confusion and disrespect," officials wrote to the college, suggesting "alternative strategies" apart from six crosswalk-signal systems in this space of less than four-tenths of a mile.
In a different approach taken by Moravian College a decade ago, flashing lights were attached to the road surface on both sides of a busy crosswalk on Elizabeth Avenue in Bethlehem, and they seem to help, college spokesman Mike Wilson said though nothing gets through the thick rooflines of some clueless motorists. "Some people just ignore it," failing to stop for pedestrians as required by law, Wilson said. Unlike at Muhlenberg, pedestrians must push a button to illuminate the lights on Elizabeth Avenue (and that will be the case at B'nai B'rith as well).
The Moravian lights were among the first of their kind in Pennsylvania in June 2002, and they were pretty impressive at the time. But when I returned recently, the tiny incandescent lights seemed like dim bulbs, literally, compared to Muhlenberg's LEDs. In broad daylight, I might not have noticed the Moravian lights three on each side of the crosswalk had I not been looking for them. The LEDs are far brighter, and Rabold said raising them higher in the field of vision also adds prominence. Muhlenberg's lights are blazingly effective at night.
The 17th and Chew intersection inherently is dangerous, despite being posted with a truckload of traffic-control signs. Howard Silverman of Allentown emailed some years ago suggesting that a "right lane must turn right" sign be posted for southbound 17th Street traffic to help clarify the confusing turn-lane functions, and that placard has, in fact, been added. Every relevant sign and lane marking is there, as far as I can tell, but there's one glaring omission: The signals have no pedestrian-crossing phases with the familiar push-buttons and illuminated "walk" and "don't walk" graphic signs.
Pedestrian-warning systems such as Muhlenberg's would seem to work best a mid-block crosswalks. At a busy intersection like 17th and Chew, four of the costly devices would be needed to cover all of the crosswalks. The older-model pedestrian phases and related hardware built into the traffic signals would seem the more appropriate optional equipment.
Scott, the bollard lights on the raised-curb island separating northbound 17th Street traffic from the patient-drop-off lanes do produce some glare, but I think this condition merely contributes to the broader problem, which you also cite: The crosswalk itself seems steeped in darkness among all the other lighting in the area. There's a street light nearby, for example, but it's too far from the crosswalk illuminate it, and may, like the bollard lights, present more of a hindrance.
I happened to notice a security light mounted on a nearby utility pole, lighting the wide expanse of sidewalk front of the Allentown Fairgrounds entry gates. Unless I'm missing something, a similar flood light could be attached to the same pole, aimed instead at the crosswalk, illuminating it very effectively.
While making no promises, Young said he might consider such an improvement, though it could require the involvement and/or consent of the hospital and/or Lehigh County Agricultural Society, which owns the fairgrounds. And of course, some entity would have to agree to pay for and maintain the light. In the field of traffic-safety improvements, legitimate demand outstrips available funding by a long stretch of highway.
In general speaking,
12V LED has become more and more affordable, therefore
auto LED bulbs have been used widely.
by: alishushu
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