The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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  • Pat Christman

    Crossings

November 23, 2009

Crossings safer, saner in St. Peter

By Brian Ojanpa

ST PETER — Pedestrian street crossings on St. Peter’s wide downtown thoroughfare used to resemble death-defying sprints.

Now, thanks to new crossing-signal technology and distance mitigations, hoofing it across Highway 169/Minnesota Avenue has become a civilized stroll instead of a frenzied quick-step.

“What I’ve heard anecdotally is that people have said they can make it across in 8 seconds with 8 seconds to spare — and they had to run across before,” City Administrator Todd Prafke said.

The recently completed $17 million Highway 169 reconstruction project had safer pedestrian road crossings as one of its goals.

To that end, the installation of curb bump-out extensions at stoplight intersections reduced the crossing distance by about 20 percent.

Also, state-of-the-art “accessible traffic signal” technology is creating a safer crossing scenario for those with sight and hearing impairments.

These signals literally talk a person across the avenue. Push the button and an electronic voice repeats the word “wait” if the light is red.

As it turns green, the voice announces the name of the street about to be crossed, instructs the pedestrian to “walk” and begins counting down in seconds from 17.

The devices’ audible signals can be heard 6 to 12 feet from the pushbutton, and volumes become louder or softer in response to levels of traffic noise.

Minnesota Department of Transportation engineering specialist Jerry Kotzenmacher said St. Peter is among the first locales in the state to have accessible pedestrian signals, which will now be standard on all new MnDOT signal projects.

The signals also are compliant with requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We’re trying to catch up as to what our responsibilities are,” said Bruce Lattu, a MnDOT official who works with disabilities compliance issues.

While some in the sight-impaired community view such technology as a plus, others look askance at it.

“It seems to be a 50-50 split on this,” MnDOT’s Kristi Billiar said.

Billiar, who coordinates ADA implementation for the department, said some sight-impaired groups welcome the technology as a useful aid, while others thinks the sight-impaired best serve themselves by learning to adapt on their own to their environments.

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