DDOT Installing More Pedestrian Crosswalk Beacons
New Flashing Lights at Uncontrolled Intersections Improve Pedestrian Safety
(Washington, DC) – Just in time for the start of the new school year, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is installing new warning beacons with flashing lights to help pedestrians of all ages safely cross four busy, and previously uncontrolled, intersections in the District.
DDOT is installing solar-powered rapid-flashing crosswalk beacons at the following locations:
Ward 1:
New Hampshire Ave. and Otis Place, NW (This location serves students who attend a nearby school on Georgia Avenue.)
Ward 3:
MacArthur Blvd. and U Street, NW. (This location serves pedestrians accessing nearby bus stops, a grocery store and other retail.)
Ward 8:
Alabama Ave. and 15th Place, SE (This location serves pedestrians walking to a new restaurant, as well as nearby housing, shopping center and bus stops.)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Milwaukee Place, SE (This location serves children walking to and from a nearby school and utilizing nearby bus stops.)
The beacons are expected to be in place and operating next week.
The improvements at the two intersections near schools were funded through DDOT’s Safe Routes to School program, which works to make it safer for children to walk and bike to school.
Prior to entering the crosswalks, pedestrians push a button to activate the beacons. As seen in the photo above, the solar-powered beacons emit yellow LED light clusters that signal to approaching vehicles that pedestrians are waiting to cross the road at the crosswalk.
In 2008, DDOT installed the city’s first rapid-flashing crosswalk beacons at the intersection of Brentwood Road and 13th Street, NE. The use of the devices is a key recommendation of the District’s Pedestrian Master Plan and testing here and elsewhere has shown they are very effective. At locations with rapid-flashing crosswalk beacons, the percentage of drivers who yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk can be as high as 90%.
For more information about DDOT’s Pedestrian program please visit our website at ddot.dc.gov.
