Work continues to improve pedestrian crosswalks

The city of Mountain Home has added a second pedestrian crossing alert light on American Legion Boulevaard. In addition to the previous light at North 14th East Street, a new light has been installed at the intersection with North 6th and 4th East streets, where The Lucky Perk, Herb Hawley's gas station, the Christian and Baptist Church and Papa Murphy's Pizza are located. The flashing yellow lights, which can be triggered by pedestrians, are located on the right-hand side of the street for traffic. Drivers are urged to watch for pedestrians crossing at those location. They must stop until the pedestrian has crossed the street.

A project aimed at improving public safety at key traffic intersections in town took another step ahead after a second set of crossing signals were installed at a second intersection on American Legion Boulevard.

Earlier this month, city street crews erected the pair of signal lights at the North 6th East crosswalk.

The effort began in May when the first pair of crossing lights were installed on the east side of the North 14th East Street intersection. The signals are part of an ongoing effort to make it safer for pedestrians and bike riders to cross American Legion.

Unlike standard crossing signs already in use here, the new signs use rapidly flashing lights to alert drivers that people are crossing the street. Push buttons on the signal poles on both sides of the street allow pedestrians to activate the crossing lights before they enter the intersection.

According to local traffic codes, drivers on American Legion are required to stop when these lights start flashing and are not allowed to continue until the lights turn off. Meanwhile, pedestrians and bicyclists crossing American Legion at this intersection need to activate the crossing lights before they step onto the street.

However, people don't need to activate these new lights if they plan to cross North 6th East or North 14th East streets on either side of American Legion.

In January, the city council unanimously approved plans to purchase new crossing signal equipment for the two intersections. Originally, the council considered buying three sets of signal lights but cut the plans back to two sets, citing budget concerns.

During a city council meeting on April 8, the four-person board was unanimous in designating North 14th East Street as the city's top priority for the new signal lights.

In recent years, there were a number of close calls as children crossed the road to get to and from school, members of the council said. In recent months, a child sustained a broken leg after he was struck by a car at that intersection.

The city could buy a third set of crossing lights when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. If approved, it's possible that the lights will be installed at the North 9th East crosswalk.

The decision to buy the new crossing signals was tied, in part, to a briefing held in April 2012 seeking to improve safety for students walking or riding their bikes to and from school.

It was one of several recommendations outlined by the Idaho's Safe Routes to School team.

Their findings culminated a year-long effort that examined current conditions around East Elementary and Hacker Middle schools.

That group of concerned parents and public officials identified a number of safety issues around both building, including dangerous crosswalks, inattentive drivers and speeding traffic.

The largest of these concerns dealt with American Legion Boulevard, which represents a significant student safety issue, said Safe Routes to School consultant Chris Danley.

A barrier for those trying to get to and from school with more than 10,000 cars using it every day, he highlighted the number of drivers that speed on this stretch of road or fail to yield to students at key crossing points.

According to data from a survey of more than 400 parents with school age children here, a significant number of these students live north of the boulevard and need to cross it twice a day to get to and from the middle school.

To remedy these types of concerns, Danley suggested the city add the pedestrian-activated signals for those crossing American Legion. A similar initiative in Nampa led to a significant reduction in vehicle-pedestrian incidents, he said.