Rapid flashing beacons soon will be installed at two pedestrian crosswalks in West Hollywood.
The City Council last night approved the installation of the flashing lights at the crosswalk on San Vicente Boulevard between the West Hollywood Library and the Pacific Design Center and the crosswalk on Fountain Avenue at Hayworth.
The City Council in 2014 authorized study of the feasibility to installing signals at crosswalks that would be coordinated with existing traffic lights. The study was a response to an outcry from local residents about pedestrians being hit by cars in crosswalks.
Last year the Council approved changes to the crosswalks on Santa Monica Boulevard at Palm, Hancock, Westmount, West Knoll Drive and Orange Grove/Ogden. They are expected to be completed by next December.
The city staff, in a memo to the Council, notes that about 21,000 vehicles each day use the area San Vicente Boulevard on which that crosswalk is located. Because of the crosswalks’ proximity to a traffic light on Melrose Avenue to its south, the staff recommends against installing a traffic signal coordinated with the Melrose stoplight. Demand for the crosswalk is high, with an average of 40 pedestrians using it during a two-hour peak period.
On Fountain, an estimated 51 pedestrians use the Hayworth crosswalk during the peak two-hour periods.
WHAT ABOUT THE CROSSWALK WHERE MOST FATAL PEDESTRIAN HITS BY CAR DRIVERS HAVE HAPPENED!!!???? PALM AND SANTA MONICA BLVD!
What about the crosswalk at Westmount and Melrose where Urth Cafe is located and the all too frequent pedestrian traffic is just as bad if not worse than between 24 Fitness and Starbucks. Why is this crosswalk never mentioned? It slows Melrose to an intermittent crawl. Fix it !