The Town Council has been working with the Transportation and Connectivity Advisory Board to consider new locations for pedestrian crosswalks, including a potential crosswalk on Franklin Street, said David Bonk, transportation planning manager for the town.
“What we’ve seen is that properly designed and properly signed, enhanced crosswalks increase pedestrian safety significantly — we’re creating a community where safety is enhanced, and we’re encouraging people to walk and bike more by virtue of the fact that they feel safer,” he said.
The enhanced crosswalks would increase bicycle and pedestrian safety, especially along U.S. 15-501.
“Safety and connectivity are incredibly important to make this a more livable community,” said Town Council member Maria Palmer, liaison between the board and council. “A healthy community includes a community where people can safely walk from one place to the other.”
The types of improved crosswalks vary, with options including pedestrian-activated walks and pedestrian bridges and tunnels. The pedestrian-activated walks would include a button, which crossers press to activate flashing signage, alerting oncoming motorists.
The pedestrian bridges and tunnels, presented before the board by Iona Thomas — associate vice president of Stewart Engineering, which is working with the town on the project — would cost anywhere from $625,000 to $2.7 million each, depending on the length and location of the development.
The town is considering three locations on U.S. 15-501 and one along Franklin Street, according to a staff memorandum.
“Many of these locations are places where we’ve gotten complaints from pedestrians about the difficulty in crossing — we’re always evaluating new locations for crosswalks, based on feedback we get from the public and our own observations about pedestrian safety,” Bonk said.
