Police Commission Ponders Best Crosswalk Designs

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Commission members are seeking cost estimates for various types of crosswalks that could be installed to make the act of crossing a town street safer for pedestrians.

Commission members on February 3 discussed the topic with Fred Hurley, the town’s public works director, in seeking to learn what would make for the most practical and economical ways to improve pedestrians’ safety while they are crossing local streets. The commission also is the local traffic authority, overseeing traffic issues on local roads.

The panel’s discussion on the topic follows the town’s December removal of a “raised crosswalk” on Glover Avenue, at its intersection with Meadow Road. The device had been installed there last September in an experiment to learn whether such a structure would prove workable.

However, the physical instability of that portable device, which was discovered during town snowplowing, resulted in the town removing the highly visible, segmented rubberized structure from the pavement.

In early December, town road crew members had started work on installing a second raised crosswalk on Queen Street in front of Newtown Middle School, near Lorraine Drive. But they stopped work on that project after encountering technical problems. The Queen Street raised crosswalk was to have been an improved design of the device that had been installed on Glover Avenue.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe on February 3 warned Police Commission members that the presence of crosswalks poses a “level of risk” to pedestrians wherever they are installed, either in Newtown or elsewhere.

Although state law requires that motorists stop and yield to pedestrians who are in crosswalks, pedestrians cannot necessarily expect that motorists will stop and yield to them, the police chief said.

Most crosswalks in town are on state roads, and thus are regulated by the state, he noted. Only two painted crosswalks now exist on town roads, he said. They are on Glover Avenue at its intersection with Meadow Road and on Queen Street, near the southern driveway for Newtown Middle School.

Chief Kehoe noted that the state Department of Transportation (DOT) performs a traffic study before it installs a crosswalk. The state avoids installing crosswalks in areas where pedestrians would be unlikely to use them, he added.

Commission member Bruce Walczak observed that there must be measures that can be taken to make crosswalks safer for pedestrians. Mr Walczak urged panel members to consider what practical steps can be taken to make crosswalks safer to use. “These can be made safer,” Mr Walczak said.  

The raised crosswalk that had been installed on Glover Avenue had highly visible, large white chevrons painted on the adjacent pavement, drawing motorists’ attention to the crosswalk. Those chevrons remain on the street near the existing painted crosswalk.

Also, the town has posted bright green road signs near that crosswalk, alerting motorists to its presence. Additionally, a portable plastic sign had been placed atop the center of the crosswalk to make its presence more visible.

Police Commission Chairman Carol Mattegat said that the white chevrons painted on Glover Avenue near the crosswalk have had a clear effect on motorists, alerting them that they are approaching a crosswalk. The painted chevrons are more effective warning devices than the adjacent curbside crosswalk signs, she said.

Mr Hurley noted that although the raised crosswalk has been removed from Glover Avenue, people still tend to slow down when approaching the painted crosswalk that remains there.

Mr Walczak said he expects the town will create more crosswalks. He again urged commission members to formulate a crosswalk safety plan and then accomplish its goals.

Mr Hurley said that other towns in the region are monitoring how Newtown addresses the issue of raised crosswalks for pedestrian safety.

Mr Hurley said that some residents of both The Boulevard and Wendover Road have expressed interest in having raised crosswalks installed on their streets. Both of those straight north-south streets link Church Hill Road to Schoolhouse Hill Road.

The public works director said that the town still owns the components that would be required to assemble two raised crosswalks. Consequently, those two portable raised crosswalks would not pose a funding issue, but would involve some decisionmaking, he said

Mr Hurley offered a range of options to panel members in terms of crosswalks. Portable raised crosswalks could be installed on Glover Avenue and on Queen Street, he said. As an alternative, permanent structures made of durable materials could be installed.

Police Commission member Brian Budd asked that Mr Hurley provide cost estimates for constructing a permanent raised crosswalk. Such a device might be made of concrete, Mr Budd said.

Mr Hurley offered to provide cost estimates for various versions of crosswalks, including a “stamped concrete” crosswalk. In such a design, a concrete crosswalk, which would lie flush with the adjacent asphalt roadway, would be stamped with a textured pattern to both visually and texturally differentiate it from the adjacent roadway.

Mr Hurley said he would return to the commission with the prices for various versions of crosswalks that might be installed by the town to enhance pedestrian safety.

In closing, Police Captain Joe Rios suggested that the town consider using, where appropriate, the type of speed bumps which the Town of Redding has installed on Hopewell Woods Road, near the Newtown town line.