HERALD EDITORIAL: Crosswalk at Stadium and Oliver unsafe

The crosswalk connecting the two sides of Oliver Street at its intersection with Stadium Drive spans about twenty-five paces long, for an average, healthy, six-foot tall individual.

To part the sea of traffic, pedestrians at Western Michigan University, push the button and then wait for the signal to change from a forbidding red hand to an opaque white pedestrian.

Then it’s full bore ahead with no time to waste.

Then the bright red hand starts to flash.  Passing through the northeast-bound side of Stadium Drive, the cars turning left from the western side of Oliver roll by, avoiding pedestrians by inches.
The step onto the curb comes not a moment too soon.  In a few seconds the red hand ceases to flash.  Cued, the flocks of cars on both sides of Stadium Drive start to roll.

Perhaps it is luck if you safely cross at Oliver and Stadium.  Even for persons who walk at an average rate there is insufficient time to safely cross Stadium Drive from Oliver Street.

We at the Western Herald believe that steps should be taken to address the dangers posed by that crosswalk.

Kalamazoo Public Service Department discussed such actions in 1999.  They recommend, in their Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, “appropriate studies and negotiations be undertaken to explore the usefulness of a pedestrian overpass at Oliver Street and Stadium Drive to connect the east campus with WMU’s main campus.”

Any such studies conducted apparently found that the overpass isn’t necessary.

Perhaps that conclusion is  accurate.  But for that to be true, pedestrians must have enough time to cross the street.

The time factor is particularly significant at night because pedestrians are less visible.  The change of the crosswalk signal occasions drivers to start driving.  If a pedestrian is still crossing at that moment, it’s possible that a driver might not see them until to late.

One possible argument for not increasing the duration of the pedestrian walk sign is that it would inevitably slow the pace of traffic at an already busy intersection.

However, the longer signal would only block traffic when pedestrians need to cross.

Furthermore, since the signal’s duration is, in our opinion, presently too short, increasing it cannot be viewed as any more of a nuisance for motor-traffic than any other crosswalk that grants pedestrians sufficient time.

Since a failure to adjust the signal’s duration endangers pedestrians’ safety with smother traffic-flow as its only benefit, the matter boils down to one of safety versus convenience.

We should value the safety of our pedestrians more than the timeliness of motor-travels.

To us, building an overpass seems a little overboard.  Likewise, the automated signals at Howard and W Michigan Avenue are too obnoxious to be worth any increased efficacy.

The system in place at Oliver Street and Stadium Drive would work well if the time allowed to pedestrians were increased.

The City of Kalamazoo could attempt such a task during the course of the construction already underway at that location.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=6158

Posted by HeraldAdmin on May 31 2009. Filed under Editorial, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com