Whenever we drive or walk through Madison, my wife and I regularly note the need to make Madison more foot-friendly. We see pedestrians, adults and kids, at the Washington Ave-Highway 34 intersection (the main intersection on the way to DSU, near Subway) often waiting in frustration for the minority of drivers who seem sufficiently attentive and willing to wait at the four-way stop for walkers to cross. We see folks on the west side of town waiting to make the mad dash to the swimming pool between gaps in highway traffic.
Along all of Northwest 2nd Street (a.k.a. Highway 34), there is just one controlled intersection with pedestrian signals, at Egan Avenue. The kids get a crossing guard at Liberty around 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., but otherwise, folks wanting to cross the highway are on their own. There are painted crosswalks but no lights and no guarantee that drivers will remember that pedestrians always have the right of way.
Madison's sidewalk committee is recommending action to tame the metropolitan madhouse for folks on foot. Tonight the city commission will take up the sidewalk committee's recommendation to ask the state for a pedestrian-activated stop light at the intersection of Highway 34 and Olive Avenue, near Westside Park (see page 16 of tonight's agenda packet -- PDF alert!). Excellent idea!
Of course, we could use more than one. Pedestrians could benefit from walk signals at several points along the highway:
- at Josephine Ave (Taco John's/McDonald's)
- at Blanche Ave (Pizza Hut/Sunshine)
- at Washington (Subway/Ampride)
- at Center or SE 1st Street (high-rise, one block from the library and courthouse)
- between Dollar General/Lewis and the Second Street Diner/Schaefer Plaza
If drivers need to hurry through Madison and don't want to wait for pedestrians, well, that's what the bypass is for. It's time to make Madison safer for walkers of all ages. Let's put up those lights!
Update 2008.08.19 09:20: KJAM reports this morning that the city commission will ask the state for that controlled crosswalk, even though the Regional Traffic engineer told City Engineer Chad Comes that getting the light at NW 2nd and Olive is "improbable."
Improbable? We've got folks fighting for four lanes from Lake Madison to I-29 out of safety concerns; Madison doesn't know the meaning of improbable. I suppose the state wants us to wait on installing a crossing light until we have five pedestrain accidents at the intersection. That's the same excuse the county gives us for not putting up a four-way stop at the intersection of 451st Ave and 233rd St west of the golf course.
Come on, Pierre, help us out: it's one intersection, one crossing light, one slow-down for cars to keep kids going for a swim safe. Build that light!
It’s not so much that I need to hurry through Madison but when a pedestrian wants to cross at a four lane highway they have to watch out for so much traffic. I have seen cars slow to a stop for a pedestrian and the pedestrian looks like they feel obligated to cross and does not notice the other lanes of traffic is not slowing or stopping. In fact I believe the one bad pedestrian accident that I remember by Garfield school, some of the traffic did stop for the child crossing. The one that hit her did not see her until it was too late. Thank goodness we now have school crossing guards. But I’m reluctant to stop on the four lane for a pedestrian when I can not control the other traffic. I wouldn’t get too carried away with crossings after all we want to keep traffic moving smoothly or we will push more traffic to smaller, less desirable streets.
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