Sandy Springs Installs New Pedestrian Traffic Light on Roswell Road (Atlanta: 2013, apartment)

[LynnHarris]

I hope this works. I have seen so many near pedestrian accidents on this stretch of Roswell Road.


"Sandy Springs Police say the city has installed a pedestrian safety traffic signal Roswell Road between between Long Island Drive and West Belle Isle Road.

It’s a little bit different than the traffic signals most drivers are used to seeing..."

(VIDEO) Sandy Springs installs new pedestrian traffic light on Roswell Road - Reporter Newspapers

[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.

[cqholt]

Without better driver and ped education, this project is not a solution. There is no grantee drivers will stop.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Without better driver and ped education, this project is not a solution. There is no [guarantee] drivers will stop.

Excellent point.

Though, with this being Metro Atlanta, you can pretty much guarantee that drivers will NOT stop for a flashing red light (or any red light) and pedestrians on a frequent basis.

[MattCW]

This will probably just increase the number of rear-end collisions as a driver comes to a stop on a yellow and the rear driver not expecting it or distracted by the weird lights will hit them. Or a rear driver that doesn't know the rules of the intersection rams into someone who otherwise lawfully came to a stop.

I really am getting tired of giving the upperhand to pedestrians. We can maneuver better than any vehicle, can see the road better than any vehicle, and don't have near as much to worry about (speed, maintaining lane, following distance, etc.). As it stands, one interpretation of the crosswalk laws, that isn't a stretch, could easily shut down that road for the entire day if enough people are trying to cross and don't obey the traffic signals.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

This will probably just increase the number of rear-end collisions as a driver comes to a stop on a yellow and the rear driver not expecting it or distracted by the weird lights will hit them. Or a rear driver that doesn't know the rules of the intersection rams into someone who otherwise lawfully came to a stop.

I really am getting tired of giving the upperhand to pedestrians. We can maneuver better than any vehicle, can see the road better than any vehicle, and don't have near as much to worry about (speed, maintaining lane, following distance, etc.). As it stands, one interpretation of the crosswalk laws, that isn't a stretch, could easily shut down that road for the entire day if enough people are trying to cross and don't obey the traffic signals.

Everything in this country has been built for cars in the last 60 years. The only thing that peds have a right to is the sidewalk and in a crosswalk when walking with traffic. Parking lots aren't even safe.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by MattCW

This will probably just increase the number of rear-end collisions as a driver comes to a stop on a yellow and the rear driver not expecting it or distracted by the weird lights will hit them. Or a rear driver that doesn't know the rules of the intersection rams into someone who otherwise lawfully came to a stop.

And that is the fault of the rear-ender and should be treated as such. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

I really am getting tired of giving the upperhand to pedestrians. We can maneuver better than any vehicle, can see the road better than any vehicle, and don't have near as much to worry about (speed, maintaining lane, following distance, etc.). As it stands, one interpretation of the crosswalk laws, that isn't a stretch, could easily shut down that road for the entire day if enough people are trying to cross and don't obey the traffic signals.

Many Atlantans have a sense of entitlement when it comes to driving, and to be frank, these kinds of beliefs tend to reinforce them. And the highlighted sentence is completely false. Without crosswalks, crossing a five-lane thoroughfare such as Roswell Road can be a life-threatening endeavor. See, I happen to believe that the life of a pedestrian is more important than the temporary convenience of a driver.

[ElleKaye]

I saw it when they started tearing the street up about a month ago. At first it looked like they were just installing a median similar to the one on Roswell at 285. I still don't see the point of that one except to make it impossible to make a left into Shell from northbound Roswell. (I am aware there are lots of day laborers congregated on the street next to Shell.)

The crosswalk is between Franklin and Long Island, not Long Island and E/W Belle Isle. I like it better now that they have lighting and signals up even though I'm one of the uneducated who may not completely understand what is expected of me there. I'm also not all that fond of the location. It's right after a blind curve on northound Roswell. I have had to make that left turn onto Franklin from southbound Roswell, and those cars and semis flying around that curve do not seem prepared to step on the brakes, specifically those in the left lane. I consider it a minor miracle I have not had an accident.

I think a traditional traffic light with the standard warning signage indicating a traffic light that you cannot see from here is coming up ahead would have been a better choice. I prefer as little confusion as possible, but if you're going to have some, at least put it in a place where the drivers can clearly see it coming up from both directions.

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Without better driver and ped education, this project is not a solution. There is no grantee drivers will stop.

I agree at least an attempt at education is needed and consider myself in that target audience. Had I not watched the OP's clip, I would be even more clueless. Although the ETA is the 15th per the clip, I think it is operational now as I saw it flashing (possibly yellow) the other night. My main goal was to make sure I didn't hit a pedestrian since flashing just generally means use caution to me.

The clip showed the HAWK at an intersection which at least gives drivers some visual cue that a stop may be expected in their future. This thing on Roswell Road, I think I'll call it the HAWK Jaywalk is not on the corner of any streets.

I can see the need for something to have been done for pedestrians because there are no traffic lights between Windsor and E/W Belle Isle on Roswell. It's an apartment heavy area with quite a few MARTA stops. If for some reason I thought it was a good idea to drop this thing in the middle of the road, there are few places on that section of Roswell that I would have considered a worse location. The worst would be the actual blind spot a few feet up.

[LynnHarris]

Agree with points made by cqholt & ElleKaye (not able to rep you guys)...