Home  Blog SHA and WMATA consider plan to halt jaywalking
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SHA and WMATA consider plan to halt jaywalking |
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The State Highway Administration and WMATA arestudying whether to close the row of bushes on the south side of Forest Glen Road near the entrance to the Metro station. The stated goal is to reduce jaywalking, but since people jaywalk in order to stay alive in a dangerous intersection, this plan deserves more scrutiny. The following is a letter written by Crossing Georgia chairman Adam Pagnucco and FECA president Paul Gordon to SHA and WMATA:
June 22, 2007
Stephanie Yanovitz
Regional & Intermodal Planning
State Highway Administration
707 N. Calvert St., MS C-502
Baltimore, MD 21202
Nat Bottigheimer
Assistant General Manager
WMATA
600 5th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
Dear Ms. Yanovitz and Mr. Bottigheimer:
We are writing to you about changes you are considering for access
to the Forest Glen Metro Station's southern entrance. We understand
that you are studying whether to close the row of bushes on the
southern side of Forest Glen Road west of the intersection with
Georgia Avenue. The purpose of this change would be to discourage
jaywalking across Forest Glen to the southern station entrance and
instead steer pedestrians to the western crosswalk at the
intersection.
First, we appreciate your sharing these proposals with us. We
mutually benefit from keeping the lines of communication open. And
we also appreciate your attention to increasing pedestrian safety
around the station. We all understand that the Georgia-Forest Glen
intersection is a dangerous place and we support efforts by the
State Highway Administration and WMATA to decrease those dangers.
In considering SHA and WMATA's proposal, we should first answer this
question: why do people jaywalk across the west side of Forest Glen
to the southern station entrance? Most do so for two reasons:
convenience and perceived safety.
In terms of convenience, some people are jaywalking diagonally from
the northwest corner of the Georgia-Forest Glen intersection to the
southern Metro entrance because that is the most direct route.
Given a choice, most people prefer to walk in a straight line rather
than through a series of angles. In fact, these pedestrians are
partially mimicking the path of the proposed pedestrian tunnel,
which would also cross diagonally to the station.
In terms of perceived safety, many people do not feel safe in the
western crosswalk. Many cars make the right turn from southbound
Georgia onto western Forest Glen at a high rate of speed. Some of
these cars cut off pedestrians. Some pedestrians feel safer
crossing Forest Glen thirty or more feet west of the intersection
because it increases the distance between them and turning cars,
thereby allowing both time and room to dodge negligent drivers.
One reason that cars act as they do may be that they cannot see
pedestrians in the western crosswalk. The picture below represents
the view from southbound Georgia of the western crosswalk when
approaching the intersection. There are seven objects blocking the
view of the crosswalk: a telephone pole, a traffic light pole, a
utility box, a state road sign, a fence, a bush and a tree. In this
picture, two cars waiting at Forest Glen are barely visible behind
these obstacles. How visible would pedestrians be?
We should also point out that crosswalks are no guarantee of safety
at the county's most notorious intersection. In April 2006, four
pedestrians – including two children – were struck by a car while
crossing legally in the northern crosswalk. We posted the police
report on this accident at
http://www.crossinggeorgia.com/content/view/115/9/.
We do not condone jaywalking, but given the above circumstances –
especially the safety concerns – we understand why it occurs.
What is likely to happen if jaywalking is cut off through closing
the line of bushes along the southern side of west Forest Glen?
It may well be, as you suspect, that many people will use the
western crosswalk. Some may use the eastern and southern
crosswalks. Some may use the northern Metro entrance. But some
will avoid crosswalks entirely by driving instead of taking Metro.
If that happens, it will increase auto congestion at the county's
most congested intersection.
There could also be unintended consequences. Some pedestrians will
jaywalk across Forest Glen to Coleridge Drive, which is directly
adjacent to the southern Metro entrance and represents only a slight
shift from the current jaywalking pattern. And some may even try to
cut through the closed bushes, thereby creating a new hole through
them to perpetuate old habits. No one knows what the likely
proportions of the above behaviors will be if SHA's and WMATA's
proposal is implemented.
If SHA and WMATA determine that their proposal is necessary, we
offer the following suggestions:
1. Analyze actual walking patterns
SHA and WMATA should measure and analyze the current walking
patterns towards the southern Metro entrance. How many people use
the western crosswalk? How many use the southern crosswalk? And
how many jaywalk? These measurements should be taken before and
after the proposed change to determine whether it resulted in a
desirable outcome.
2. Highlight the western crosswalk
The western crosswalk should be more distinctive to the eyes of
drivers to remind them that it is there and has to be respected.
Perhaps it could be marked with bricks. Or it could be designated
with solid white paint.
3. Remove obstacles to pedestrian visibility
The above picture demonstrates how the cluttering of objects at the
northwest corner of the intersection blocks drivers' views of
pedestrians. SHA and WMATA should remove and/or relocate as many of
them as possible – especially the MD-192 sign, which is directly
under SHA's control.
Finally, the above measures cannot substitute for a new Metro
entrance on the eastern side of Georgia Avenue. The ultimate
solution for pedestrian access to the Forest Glen station is to
separate walkers from cars at the county's most notorious
intersection. While we support interim measures to increase
pedestrian safety, we will continue to work with state and county
agencies, as well as WMATA, to get the new east-side Metro entrance
built.
Yours Sincerely,
Paul Gordon
FECA President
Adam Pagnucco
FECA Crossing Georgia Committee Chairman
cc: Mid-County Services Center
DPWT
County Executive
County Council
Maryland District 18 Delegation |
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