The nation’s capitol is making pedestrian safety a priority. With luck, the rest of the U.S. will follow Washington’s lead. On Tuesday, Mayor Adrian Fenty unveiled a decade-long plan to make D.C. more pedestrian-friendly by bumping out sidewalks and bumping up traffic enforcement.
According to the Washington Post, The Pedestrian Master Plan, composed after a year and a half study of Washington’s streets, calls for the following actions:
- Improve safety at signalized crossings and intersections
- Improve safety at uncontrolled crossings and intersections (those without stop signs or traffic signals).
- Focus on improving eight high priority corridors, with sidewalk repairs and construction, better location of bus stops, changes in signals, enhancements to crosswalks and reduced crossing distances at intersections. (There’s one corridor in each ward. Here’s a map.)
- Increased penalties for drivers who threaten pedestrian safety. (Example: Boost the $50 fine for failing to yield to pedestrians.) – Expand the photo enforcement program.
- Broaden the Safe Routes to School program.
The plan also calls for a concerted effort to crack down on reckless driving and ped-endangerment at busy intersections, specifically, 61 intersections that have been the scene of repeated pedestrian fatalities/injuries. Between 2004 and 2006, 13 pedestrians were hit at the intersection of Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue NE, the most dangerous of all D.C. crossings. Last year, a total of 25 pedestrians were killed in on city streets.
George Branyan, the city’s pedestrian coordinator, told the Washington Post that the Plan is intended to create "a culture of civility" between pedestrians and drivers. Whether or not the plan will have peds and drivers sharing the streets in harmony is dubious, but it’s surely a worthwhile effort.
Photo via flickr by Christopher Chan.
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