As an instructor teaching people who are blind/visually impaired, I’d love to
explain the challenges we have with exclusive ped crossings…first and foremost,
if it’s not “audible pedestrian signal (APS)” (which all new ped lights would
be), then my clients have no clue when the ped cycle is on. APS (when they
work, note, they are technology and often when you push these new ped buttons
you will note many times they are not working…please report the dysfunction to
public safety ASAP…they aren’t walking the streets like we are and therefore
can’t fix it if they don’t know it’s broken). For what APS is a help, many of
my clients rely on the near parallel traffic to help establish a straight line
of travel…when it’s an exclusive traffic stop, they no longer have that
auditory/visual cue for travel alignment (thus, there have been situations
where clients have actually veered into what otherwise would be the parallel
street).
That in a nutshell is my professional response. Thanks for asking! Kathy
Clarrage
Kathy Clarrage, COMS
State of Maine, Division for the Blind & Visually Impaired
151 Jetport Blvd
Portland, ME 04102
207-423-5448
Katherine.c.clarrage@xxxxxxxxx
From: wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf ;
Of John Brooking
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 8:45 PM
To: wsmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wsmac] Dedicated pedestrian crossing and visually impaired pedestrians
Here is a question for Carson and other people on this list familiar with
issues around visual impaired walking, as well as engineers like Eric or Ethan.
I recently had an email exchange with Patrick Adams at the DOT regarding the
application of dedicated pedestrian phasing of walk lights, meaning all traffic
is stopped when the walk light is on. He mentioned a number of challenges to
doing that, one of which was the impact to visually impaired pedestrians and
their ability to navigate the intersection.
I have not heard before that a dedicated pedestrian phase would present a
challenge to these users. Can anyone explain what it would be?