TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM: Rick Ladd, Homer City Councilman
RE: Pedestrian Crosswalks in the City
of Homer
DATE: August 26, 2003
In
July 2001, the 2001 Homer Area Transportation Plan, Final Draft, was
completed. Consulting Engineers, Inc.,
prepared this document in association with Kinney Engineering, Land Design
North, Brooks and Associates, and Bechtol Planning and Development. Although not adopted by the City, the report
provides valuable data and professional observations that merit City Council
consideration.
Part
II of the document addresses “Pedestrian and Trail Elements,” and it identifies
a number of goals pertaining to pedestrian mobility within the city. Goal 7 reads, “Provide for pedestrian
mobility in the Homer city center.”
With a section titled, Analysis, the following statements are noted:
1.
Sidewalks
along more streets and crossing over major roads are needed for safe
transportation of pedestrians and casual bicyclists, especially children.
2.
Homer
currently has sidewalks along very few streets, yet pedestrians heavily use
these routes. Also, some intersections
are neither controlled nor marked for bicycle and pedestrian crossing
and are heavily used.
The
“Alaska Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan,” a part of Alaska’s Long Range Statewide
Transportation Plan, March 1, 1995, also addresses the need for pedestrian
safety and the rights of pedestrians.
13
AAC 02-155 (a) states that “when traffic-control signals are not in place or
not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a
pedestrian who is on a sidewalk, vehicular way or area, or who is crossing a
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Two
Memorandum
03-157(A)
City
of Homer
roadway
within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon half of the roadway as to be in
danger.
13
AAC 03-155 PEDESTRIAN RIGHT-OF-WAY IN SAFETY ZONES, (a) Except as provided in
13 AAC 02.195, when a traffic-control signal is not in place or not in
operation, the driver of a commercial motor vehicle shall yield the
right-of-way to a pedestrian who is on a sidewalk, in a vehicular way or area,
or who is crossing a roadway within a crosswalk and who is upon the same half
of the roadway upon which the commercial motor vehicle is traveling or is
approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in
danger.
Definition
of crosswalk: “that portion of a
roadway at an intersection which is between an extension of a sidewalk which
ends on the opposite side of the roadway, or in the absence of a sidewalk, that
portion of the roadway which is an extension of the edge of the roadway to the
opposite side of the roadway.”
The
Alaska DOT&PF Highway Pre-construction manual states that during the
development of each project the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians shall be
addressed in the design study report.
It is the policy of the State of Alaska to promote the increased use and
safety of bicycling and walking as year-round transportation choices by giving
them full consideration in the planning, design, construction and maintenance
of transportation facilities. It is
Federal transportation policy to promote increased use of bicycling, and
encourage planners and engineers to accommodate bicycle and pedestrian needs in
designing transportation facilities for urban and suburban areas. It is Federal transportation policy to
increase pedestrian safety through public information and improve crosswalk
design, signaling, school crossings, and sidewalks.
This
memorandum identifies a transportation study in Homer conducted by a certified
Alaskan Engineer that states that we have intersections without marked
pedestrian crossings where traffic use is “heavy.” Consulting Engineers, Inc., further states that pedestrian
crossings are needed. Although the City
did not adopt the report, the City has known of the need
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Three
Memorandum
03-157(A)
City
of Homer
for
safe crosswalks for some time, and pedestrian crosswalks are still not
present. The rights of pedestrians
within crosswalks are noted above. A
wait and see attitude for DOT to take action does little to assist pedestrian
safety or to teach our young population proper pedestrian behavior.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City of Homer identify dangerous pedestrian intersections and crossing areas and clearly mark the crosswalks and provide needed signage to warn vehicles of the crosswalk areas. Administration will use funds within the City’s operating budget to complete this task.
That the City Manager review the 1999 Traffic Study and 2001
recommended report for a City Traffic Master Plan.