Crossing out of Hannaford, crosswalk on the West side, the pedestrian must be
cognizant of immediate right turners and, once at the center line expecting the
left turner coming out of Hannaford to yield which in a T intersection the
drivers have to yield to the pedestrian within a green light cycle.
Crossing North to South towards Hannaford affords more time for the
pedestrian to get to the center of the road before the left turner gets going
but puts the pedestrian in a blind spot to Easterly traffic on the inside
Southerly lane if there is a large vehicle near the center line. This situation
is more dangerous due to the driver’s being blind to the pedestrian.
Crossing Northerly away from Hannaford if the crosswalk was on the
theoretical Easterly side would require the right turners to yield to the
pedestrian immediately during a green light cycle would also put the pedestrian
in the driver’s blind spot if a large vehicle was stopped at the center line.
Crossing Southerly towards Hannafort in this theoretical crosswalk the
pedestrian must be cognizant of right turners coming out of Hannafort as the
pedestrian steps away from the center line during the crossing.
Often times drivers believe they can beat the progress of the pedestrian in
all cases.
I’d refer to Cathy Clarrage but, in my opinion, at any T intersection, when
the pedestrian signal button is pushed, all traffic signals ought be red in an
“all stop cycle”.
Blind pedestrians must be able to fully understand intersections and how
they work to be safe.
Knowing the actions that cause the normal traffic flow to be altered is a
double edge sword but still must be considered.
I learned O&M before audible signals. When a pedestrian heard the near
parallel traffic start moving it was time to make the crossing. The audible
signals give the crossing pedestrian more time to get further out in the
crossing then waiting for the starting surge sounds.
What I want in the audible signals would be that the signals being shaped
like arrows be correctly pointed exactly where the crossing path is.
It would also be reasonable to assume that the walk sound was synchronized
to the light cycle so, if the cross sound stops it signifies exactly when the
lights have changed.
If there was an all red all stop during a pedestrian crossing phase it would
be necessary for all audible signals to sound. This is where synchronization to
the light cycle would also be important.
Would all the signals sounding throw off the crossing pedestrian?
I suppose the answer to that is that if there were pedestrians crossing in
all directions, not hearing the signal closest to them would be confusing.
For the blind pedestrian to keep their head during these crossings there is
no room for confusion.
From: wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf ;
Of John Brooking
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2018 11:31 AM
To: wsmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wsmac] Re: Dedicated pedestrian crossing and visually impaired
pedestrians
Thanks Kathy and Carson for educating us on this important consideration! I had
no idea of this drawback of dedicated pedestrian signals, so I'm glad I asked.
May I pick your brains further?
The main reason I asked was that I was thinking about the crossing of William
Clark Drive at Hannaford. Given the characteristics of that location --
crosswalk to the left of the driveway, and potentially two lanes of traffic
turning left out of it, what in your opinion would be the ideal infrastructure
for the blind or visually impaired pedestrian? Would it help if the crosswalk
were on the right side of the driveway instead of the left?
And also a general follow-up question: When an audible signal is used, is
locating the direction of the audible signal helpful at all in keeping the
pedestrian on course? Is the issue that the audible signal does not sound for
long enough to complete the crossing? Or in the case of a dedicated pedestrian
phase, would having the audible signal coming from all directions confuse the
pedestrian's "auto-location"?
Just a comment, it seems to me that this in an area where it certainly ought to
be possible to design better technology. Maybe the audible signals at a
dedicated crossing could be a different pitch for the different directions, so
the blind user could better distinguish them. Maybe the walk signal directly
ahead of the pedestrian could communicate in some way with a white cane to
assist in course-keeping. Possible application for Bluetooth-connected
technology?
On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 7:54 AM Carson Wood <cwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:cwood@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
Blind and visually impaired use near parallel traffic which firstly indicates
that the light is green in the direction the pedestrian wants to cross.
Secondly, the near parallel traffic forms a wall of protection as well as
guidance to stay traveling in a straight line.
The lane by lane piece has to be mentioned. When the near parallel traffic
starts the pedestrian starts the crossing knowing the light is green but, due
to right on red, the pedestrian must be cognizant of possible immediate right
turners. Usualy these drivers are concentrating on looking left towards the
oncoming traffic instead of the possible pedestrian making it imperative for
the pedestrian to be hyper aware.
At the halfway point in the crossing just at the center line, the pedestrian
must be cognizant of the possible left turning traffic that is traveling from
the same direction as the pedestrian. Just as this is being processed, the
pedestrian must be cognizant of possible right turners traveling towards the
pedestrian.
This process must be adjusted by the pedestrian when there are wider,
multiple lane crossings. The intersection must be understood in weather or not
it has specified traffic lights like arrows with designated turning lanes and
median strips.
To make all of this more fun, especially for the blind pedestrian is the
presence of pressure pads that trigger traffic lights.
T intersections are unique in that the green light will always have left and
right turners for the pedestrian to contend with.
For the blind pedestrian, keeping ones head in a crossing is imperative,
When traffic flow is operating as it is designed to flow. Crossings are
completed easily with proper training and knowledge of how intersections work.
What you are hearing in many of my email messages is the widening gap
between the well educated blind pedestrian’s skills caused when drivers do not
operate in the way the infrastructure was designed.
The role of the O&M instructor to solidly burn all of this into a blind
pedestrian’s mind is literally the difference between life and death. It’s a
gravely serious responsibility.
So, when I know traffic is running traffic lights at greater than 50 mph I’m
rattled and complain about it.
I hope this helps in understanding where I’ve been coming from.
Carson Wood.
From: wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ;<mailto:wsmac-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ] On
Behalf Of John Brooking
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 8:45 PM
To: wsmac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto: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?
