From now till the end of February, we’re hosting a focused discussion attached to this blog post on those issues of particular interest to pedestrians who regularly ‘commute’ to downtown Northfield.
We’ll start with some of those items brought forth by a group who met at the HideAway Coffeehouse & Winebar on Feb. 14. But if you’ve got something that’s not on that list, be sure to chime in.
If you use your feet to commute to downtown, we want your participation here, whether or not you attended that meeting.
If you don’t normally walk to downtown, you can participate here, too, as the concerns and ideas of those who do can benefit from a greater diversity of feedback and opinions.
I’ll facilitate and moderate the discussion.
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Several of the suggestions discussed at the Feb. 14 meeting were related to crosswalks.
Among them: 1) including the need for more information and education on ‘crosswalk protocol’ and 2) the desire to see more frequent use of the temporary “pedestrian crossing” signs.
The MN Safety Council has a web page on the key elements of the Minnesota Crosswalk Law, including:
So let’s discuss what could be done to improve crosswalk safety in and around downtown.
(Tech tip: Attach your comments to this comment by clicking on the ‘reply’ link below on the left. You can also reply to the replies of others in a nested/threaded fashion. No worries about messing up, as I can easily move your comment to the correct spot.)
October Strib: Minnesota cities upgrade to address crosswalk danger
Something needs to be done about the intersection of 5th and Washington. I’ve lived near that intersection for over 20 years, and have seen numerous accidents there. When cars are parked along Washington (especially for events like DJJD), it’s nearly impossible to see cross traffic coming when you’re stopped on Fifth. The city refuses to make this a 4-way stop. It took down pedestrian crossing signs that used to be there. There’s no crosswalk marked on the pavement. We need better, more consistent crossings into the downtown area from surrounding neighborhoods.
Rob, I seem to remember that one of the participants did mention the problems with the 5th & Washington intersection during the meeting. Glad you brought it up. We’ll make sure it gets included when we talk about Washington and the crosswalks.
I agree Rob, there is something about this intersection that says four-way stop. I can’t count the number of times I have been there and seen cars assuming the north-south traffic was stopping and start across the intersection east or west. Or conversely, see cars traveling north or south come to a full stop, expecting the cars already stopped to begin crossing in front of them. And that doesn’t even get to the pedestrians who are trying to judge if the cars are stopping, starting, or making it up as they go!
Steve, in your walks around downtown are there any other intersections that you think need 4-way or even 2-way stop signs?
This problem was brought to City Staff (and Stapf’s) attention by Councilor Peterson-White earlier this month. Chief Walerius prepared a three-year accident study, which has confirmed an increasing number of accidents at this location over that three year period, which is certainly concerning.
I have a meeting at MnDOT District 6 in Rochester on March 5, at which we will be discussing a nunmber of issues, including restarting the “back-burnered” Intersection Enhancement Study for TH 3 that was delayed since about 2010 pending a decision by the City of Northfield regarding the site of the new Police facility. With that decision now made, MnDOT is ready to resume work on that study. Other issues I expect to discuss will be TH 19 pedestrian crossing activity at MOM, TH 3 and 3rd Street, and I will ask MnDOT for assistance in doing a full-fledged analysis including traffic counts at 5th and Washington. Assuming they agree to provide us with that assistance on Washington and 5th (both are State Aid Routes), traffic counting would likely be done in the warmer weather, as the snow plows in the winter tend to tear up the traffic counter hoses.
Thanks for that update, Joe. We’ll look forward to hearing back from you after your Mar. 5 mtg w/ MNDOT.
Can the crosswalks at 5th & Washington be repainted as soon as it warms up, regardless of what happens with MNDOT and the traffic count/stop signs?
(For those who might not know, Joe Stapf is Northfield City Engineer/Public Works Director.)
Several suggestions discussed at the Feb. 14 meeting were related to the major walking routes to downtown: identifying them, identifying the key intersections, and identify the problems with sidewalk continuity and walking path gaps.
The City of Northfield’s Geographic Information Services (GIS) Department has an interactive sidewalks map and a 2008 Parks and Trails map that could be helpful.
Also, Ross Currier used these two maps for the bicycling discussion and they might be as helpful for this discussion:
Left: 9 Key Macro to Micro connections in downtown
Right: major routes to downtown
Regarding ‘crosswalk protocol’, I have to say that a few motorists seem to regard pedestrians as nuisances — I’ve had several swerve around me rather than slow and stop this fall-winter period. This isn’t in ‘downtown’, but rather on my way to the downtown from the south. I guess their defense would be that they are on their cell phones!
George, that happened to me and Robbie a couple years ago at the intersection of 5th and Division. Fortunately, a Northfield cop watched it happened and immediately pulled over the offender.
As a regular biker and walker, do you think enforcement of crosswalk laws in Northfield is an issue? Is there an education component that needs to be done?
Education is needed. As some readers/participants know,I teach the AARP Drivers Safety courses, and many drivers are unaware that they must yield to pedestrians in all crosswalks (at any intersection). Many believe that the only ones that count are signed and marked like the MoM crosswalks. I’ve had participants tell me I’m out of place walking, because streets are only for cars.
George, are you aware of any education campaigns that have been deemed effective, not just about crosswalks but about the “complete streets” movement?
No — I haven’t looked into that, I’ll see if I can find anything. As far as training drivers, I’ve often thought it interesting that we work to get the 15-year-olds fully educated, then turn them loose until they hit 55, when they can be enticed into sitting through a refresher (and update on all the changes to laws for the past 40 years) by getting the 10% discount on their auto policy.