Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Carrboro — Anyone who uses the various crosswalks in downtown Carrboro knows that not all intersections are created equal in the eyes of local motorists.
Pedestrians in the mid-block walkways near Weaver Street Market and on North Greensboro near the Century Center see a little more respect than those trying to use the crosswalks just a stone’s throw away.
The uncertainty of whether cars will stop and the ongoing battle of the right-of-way at major intersections were among the concerns raised at Tuesday night’s board of aldermen meeting at Carrboro Town Hall.
Carrboro resident Tom Henry said he and fellow pedestrians he’s talked to have had numerous close calls and he’d like to see the town step up enforcement to see that crosswalks and those traveling on foot downtown get a little more respect.
Henry said the crosswalks with the caution paddles in the center of the roadway and crossings that have walk signals tend to be safer. He singled out the crosswalks on Greensboro Street as particularly unsafe.
Henry suggested the town try to work with the state Department of Transportation to outfit more crosswalks with paddles and encourage Carrboro police to ramp up enforcement on speeders and drivers who violate the crosswalk laws.
Virginia Guidry said she would also like to see stronger enforcement.
“It does seem to be a contradiction to me that Carrboro promotes itself as pedestrian friendly and yet the crosswalk laws are not enforced,†she said.
Guidry agreed with Henry on the problems with the Greensboro Street crosswalks. She said that at the crosswalk at Shelton Street and Greensboro Street on a busy Saturday there are often angry confrontations between drivers and those trying to cross the street.
North Carolina law requires motorists to stop when pedestrians are in a crosswalk.
In other action Tuesday night, the board:
• amended the town’s parking code to prohibit parking along an additional stretch along the south side of Roberson Street near the town’s recently leased parking lot;
• set a public hearing for March 23 on clarifications to the town’s land-use management ordinances related to stream buffers and natural constraints and the notification of the public on public hearings;
• set its agenda for the board’s annual planning retreat, which has been rescheduled due to snow and ice to Sunday, Feb. 28 at noon at the OWASA Community Room.
The agenda includes a preliminary outlook for the fiscal year 2010-11 budget and an overview and discussion of the town’s Vision 2020 plan.
CHECK THE LAW CLOSELY, PARTICULARLY NC GENERAL STATUTES,CHAPTER 20 PART 11, PEDESTRIANS’ RIGHTS AND DUTIES, (20-172 AND AFTER) BEFORE YELLING TOO MUCH.
IF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ENFORCED ALL THIS FULLY, THE STATE’S BUDGET WOES MIGHT WELL BE OVER FROM ALL THE FINES COLLECTED FROM PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS.
PEDESTRIANS DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY! THEY MUST YIELD TO VEHICLES WHEN THE PEDESTRIANS ARE HELD FROM CROSSING BY A STOP SIGN, RED LIGHT, OR PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALK SIGNAL. AND BY THE WAY, IT IS ILLEGAL TO STEP OFF OF THE CURB IF THE “DON’T WALK”, FLASHING HAND, OR COUNT-DOWN NUMBERS ARE DISPLAYED.
AND THEY MAY HAVE TO PUSH A BUTTON TO ACTIVATE THE PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALK LIGHT: NOT DOING SO DOES NOT ALLOW THEM TO CROSS WHEN THE TRAFFIC LIGHT CHANGES. THEY HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT “WALK” SIGNAL IS DISPLAYED, AND MAY ONLY STEP OFF WHILE IT IS DISPLAYED.
IF THERE IS A STOP SIGN AT THE INTERSECTION, THE PEDESTRIAN MUST YIELD TO VEHICLES JUST AS A CAR WOULD, IN SPITE OF THE CROSSWALK.
ON THOSE MARKED CROSWALKS IN THE MIDDLE OF A BLOCK, THE VEHICLES ARE REQUIRED TO YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS WITHIN THE CROSSWALK, NOT THOSE WHO ARE JUST STANDING ON THE SIDEWALK. THE MORE WE STAND AND HOPE THE CAR WILL STOP, THE MORE WE ARE ACTUALLY TRAINING THE DRIVERS TO KEEP GOING.
MAKE YOUR INTENTIONS OBVIOUS, GET EYE CONTACT WITH THE APPROACHING DRIVER, DO AN EXAGGERATED “AND AWAY WE GO” MOVE,LIKE JACKIE GLEASON, WAVE AND SAY “THANK YOU” WITH EXAGGERATED LIP MOVEMENT, AND WE WILL BE TRAINING THOSE DRIVERS AS WE SHOULD.
BUT BE READY TO JUMP BACK. YOU MIGHT BE RIGHT, BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO BE DEAD RIGHT.
THERE ARE MANY MORE LAWS REGULATING PEDESTRIANS THAN I AM SEEING OBEYED BY THEM IN TOWN. THEY CAN ONLY CROSS WHEN PERMITTED BY LAW, AND ONLY THEN DO THE HAVE “THE RIGHT OF WAY WITHIN THE CROSSWALK”.