Sandy Springs Installs New Pedestrian Traffic Light on Roswell Road (legally, bill)

[bryantm3]

my dad called the mayor of alpharetta and the city councilmen a few times and got one installed on old milton parkway. shows you what citizen participation can do. that and a huge tax base with extra money to blow. either way, pedestrians were almost getting run over since old milton parkway is essentially a freeway running through a single family neighbourhood (west of highway 9). the only reason they have to add these things in is because of poorly designed roads. had the road been designed properly (ie: not a four lane road in a residential neighbourhood), this "patch" wouldn't be necessary to add.

apparently it wasn't just us advocating for the crosswalk; we were just asking for crosswalk paddles, like this:



before you know it, we've got a military-grade crosswalk unit, LOL

[residinghere2007]

There is a similar light on North Ave for GA Tech students and it doesn't cause much trouble. I don't see what the big deal is. And FWIW, nearly everyone stops when it is flashing red. They don't know you can go if no one is in the cross walk and will just stop until the red stops flashing.

IMO it is better to stop and wait a while than potentially hit someone crossing the street.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by residinghere2007

There is a similar light on North Ave for GA Tech students and it doesn't cause much trouble. I don't see what the big deal is. And FWIW, nearly everyone stops when it is flashing red. They don't know you can go if no one is in the cross walk and will just stop until the red stops flashing.

IMO it is better to stop and wait a while than potentially hit someone crossing the street.

There is a huge difference in the driver's attidutitude towards peds between those in the city and suburbs. I feel as drivers in the city have to deal with peds and cyclist more and so they have more experience and know what to do.

[tikigod311]

They need stuff like this on Old National BAD. That may be the most dangerous road in Atlanta. I can't believe someone doesn't die everyday crossing that road. 4 lane w/ a suicide lane, average speed seems to be about 60mph, MARTA stops lining the sides of the road, large stretches with no signals, seems to have more peds than any road in the metro. Scares the hell out of me to drive it.

Unfortunately, I bet none of the residents would use it as they seem to be allergic to crosswalks.

[Atlanta_BD]

Putting in the light won't make a difference. I ALWAYS cross in the crosswalk with the walk light, yet drivers never yield to me. I was crossing in a crosswalk on Sat. with the light and literally 3 cars almost hit me and none of them would stop so I could cross the street. I had to jump out of the way.

The drivers here simply have no regard for pedestrians. They are even hostile. I've had many drivers yell at me for crossing when I have the right of way. You are gambling with your life any time you are on foot and need to cross the street in metro Atlanta. Walk signals and being an obedient pedestrian makes no difference whatsoever.

I don't feel safe crossing streets here at all. Every day I pray that I don't get hit by a car.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

my dad called the mayor of alpharetta and the city councilmen a few times and got one installed on old milton parkway. shows you what citizen participation can do. that and a huge tax base with extra money to blow. either way, pedestrians were almost getting run over since old milton parkway is essentially a freeway running through a single family neighbourhood (west of highway 9). the only reason they have to add these things in is because of poorly designed roads. had the road been designed properly (ie: not a four lane road in a residential neighbourhood), this "patch" wouldn't be necessary to add.

apparently it wasn't just us advocating for the crosswalk; we were just asking for crosswalk paddles, like this:



before you know it, we've got a military-grade crosswalk unit, LOL

Drivers don't obey these either. There needs to be more enforcement. Tickets with high fines for not yielding to pedestrians.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

my dad called the mayor of alpharetta and the city councilmen a few times and got one installed on old milton parkway. shows you what citizen participation can do. that and a huge tax base with extra money to blow. either way, pedestrians were almost getting run over since old milton parkway is essentially a freeway running through a single family neighbourhood (west of highway 9). the only reason they have to add these things in is because of poorly designed roads. had the road been designed properly (ie: not a four lane road in a residential neighbourhood), this "patch" wouldn't be necessary to add.

apparently it wasn't just us advocating for the crosswalk; we were just asking for crosswalk paddles, like this:



before you know it, we've got a military-grade crosswalk unit, LOL

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

Drivers don't obey these either. There needs to be more enforcement. Tickets with high fines for not yielding to pedestrians.

Not only do drivers not obey those little yellow signs, but I have also seen many places around Metro Atlanta where those little yellow pedestrian signs in the middle of the road have been bent-up showing that the signs have been run over by wild drivers...

...Something that unfortunately is not all that surprising here in Metro Atlanta where many localities have problems with drivers speeding by school buses while their stop arms are extended to the point of putting cameras on buses to catch the hundreds of offenders that do it each school day.

[cqholt]

Putting in the light won't make a difference. I ALWAYS cross in the crosswalk with the walk light, yet drivers never yield to me. I was crossing in a crosswalk on Sat. with the light and literally 3 cars almost hit me and none of them would stop so I could cross the street. I had to jump out of the way.

You should be allowed to jump on their hoods.

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Ah, it's one of those HAWK signals. It goes off -> yellow -> steady red -> flashing red -> off, as opposed to the normal green -> yellow -> red cycle.

FYI, not a lot of drivers know that the flashing red = stop sign. So once you stop, you can go again if the crosswalk is clear.

i drove through twice a bit earlier today armed with my new knowledge of what I'm supposed to do, and the lights were blinking yellow both times without a pedestrian in sight. I get that it is not supposed to be ready yet, but I sincerely hope the off for green or even the easier green for green starts working soon. Currently, the light is crying wolf and we all know how that story goes.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You should be allowed to jump on their hoods.

Excellent suggestion, cq! Better yet, just whack their hoods with a metal softball bat.