Crossing a busy roadway can be dangerous for anyone, but it can become even more difficult for those with visual impairments.
Port Huron recently upgraded four crosswalks to audible pedestrian signals to improve safety and inclusivity.
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James Freed, Port Huron's City Manager.
The City of Port Huron alerted residents of the projects on their
Facebook page earlier this summer and updated them along the way. City Manager James Freed says the upgrade was an important opportunity to enhance the access and technology of local streets.
“Not only do the audible crosswalks improve safety for all, but they address the importance of inclusivity,” Freed says. “We are happy that these prominent and heavily used pedestrian areas are going to have this added safety feature, especially since so many families and students use these crosswalks every day.”
Eric Witter is the city engineer/director of public works and oversees the wastewater plant, water filtration plant, utility crews, engineering staff, and the streets department and traffic signals.
“The city of Port Huron maintains 16 traffic signals on our major roadways,” he says. “There are more signals within our city limits, but those belong to other jurisdictions like
MDOT. and
Michigan County Road Commission. Of those 16, four of them are audible crosswalks, two of which are most recent within the last six months. These are on Gratiot Avenue, Garfield Street, Erie Street, and McMorran Boulevard.”
The Gratiot and Garfield project included the reconstruction of the roadway from Elmwood to Holland. This also impacted the busy intersection, reconfiguring the roadway and crossings to include new installations of pedestrian signals, ADA ramps, and sidewalks. Before the upgrade, Witter says the old pedestrian signals were not ideal.
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Audible pedestrian crosswalk near Palmer Park.
“The new pedestrian crossing signals include an arrow with high-visibility contrast,” he says. “The push buttons respond to motion, alert the walker with a vibration, and you can also hear that vibration. There’s also an audible walk indication during the crossing interval, announcing the street name. There’s braille on the sign above where the button is that identifies the roadway.”
This planned upgrade project also led to another side project, which helped improve the quadrant on the Northeast corner of the intersection, Palmer Park, says Witter. The new two blocks of sidewalks help connect the campus, Palmer Park, and the recreation center.
“Gratiot is a major roadway and essentially separates two neighborhoods. Given the Palmer Park and the recreation center and all the activities that go on there, we believe that helped connect those two sides of the streets and the two different neighborhoods,” he says. “I think as far as that intersection goes, it was a very good project and there were benefits to the pedestrians and residents in the local neighborhoods.”
The other location that saw upgrades in inclusivity for pedestrians is the intersection of Erie St., and McMorran Blvd, about two blocks from Main Street through downtown.
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St. Clair County Community College's main building on 323 Erie St in Port Huron.
“What’s important about this location is that St. Clair County Community College is on one side of Erie Street, and on the other side is parking facilities along with Blue Water Area Transit Transfer Station,” Witter says. “Conversation began more than a year ago with St. Clair County RESA, St. Clair Community College, and the city of Port Huron regarding some visually impaired students who also utilized the Blue Water Area Transportation buses. It made sense to include that intersection with the upgraded crosswalks.”
The City had an electrical contractor complete these upgrades and retrofitted installations, with some city street staff helping.
“The Gratiot and Garfield intersection cost about $18,000 in equipment and about $20,000 in installation costs,” Witter says. “An intersection can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $45,000.”
So far, that’s four out of 16 traffic signals with audible pedestrian crosswalks, but Witter hopes to see more in the future. He anticipates making more safety upgrades when road projects take place at busy intersections where more citizens and visitors would benefit from the changes.
“As the city moves forward with projects, if it’s on a major roadway and would affect a traffic signal anyway, we look at making these upgrades as part of that project,” he says. “These are only going to occur when there’s existing traffic signals and we have projects where we would be making upgrades.”