Engineers Designing Crosswalks for Troubled Area of Route 51
Pedestrian safety is the motivation.
In an effort to control pedestrian traffic and improve public safety, the Baldwin Borough Council has authorized borough engineers to design three crosswalks for a busy stretch of Route 51 in south Baldwin.
The crosswalks would be between CVS Pharmacy and Irwin Drive, between Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Parish and Grace Street, and between Eat'n Park and Streets Run Road (on the Whitehall Borough border), roughly.
The council unanimously made that authorization at a borough meeting on Tuesday night. The firm of Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering, Inc., will draw the designs and return them to the Baldwin Council before a final decision is made.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has OK'd crosswalks for those intersections, but Baldwin will be responsible for paying for them.
Baldwin Borough Manager John Barrett said that borough officials are considering installing a left turning arrow at the Irwin intersection, as well, but that is still to be determined.
Tuesday night's decision comes in the wake of multiple pedestrian accidents in that area of Route 51. On Feb. 1, a woman was hit by a car and injured badly near Grace Street, and on March 8, a man was killed in an accident near the Route 51 cloverleaf.
Check back with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch later on Wednesday for more odds and ends from Tuesday night's council meeting.
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In This article
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CVS Pharmacy
5242 Clairton Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA -
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church and School
1 Grove Pl, Pittsburgh, PA -
Eat'n Park
5100 Clairton Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA -
Borough of Whitehall Municipal Complex (Administrative Offices and Outdoor Recreation)
100 Borough Park Dr, Pittsburgh, PA -
Baldwin Borough Municipal Complex
3344 Churchview Ave, Pittsburgh, PA -
Robert Edward Healy, III
10:43 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
An update: http://patch.com/A-vxbh.
Jean Smith
8:00 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes contains the laws which govern the operation of vehicles on Pennsylvania roads.
Chapter 35: SPECIAL VEHICLES AND PEDESTRIANS
Subchapter C: Rights and Duties of Pedestrians
Section 3542. Right-of-way of pedestrians in crosswalks.
(a) General rule.--When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection.
(b) Exercise of care by pedestrian.--No pedestrian shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk or run into the path of a vehicle which is so close as to constitute a hazard.
(c) Limitation on vehicles passing.--Whenever any vehicle is stopped at any crosswalk at an intersection or at any marked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass the stopped vehicle.
So, it's illegal for cars to move through a marked crosswalk that has no stoplight when a pedestrian is attempting to cross. Not so difficult too understand.