Pittsfield Township officials hope to address pedestrian safety on Carpenter Road in 2011
This busy portion of Carpenter Road between Ellsworth and Packard roads in Pittsfield Township could be considered for enhanced pedestrian safety measures in 2011.
Art Aisner | For AnnArbor.com
Plans to improve pedestrian safety along Carpenter Road in Pittsfield Township will be discussed early next year, Supervisor Mandy Grewal said.
Members of the township’s Road Committee recently met with representatives from the Washtenaw County Road Commission to discuss ideas and possible strategies to make one of the county’s busiest roads safer.
An 84-year-old Ann Arbor man was struck and killed by a motorist in November, and a man in a wheelchair was hit and seriously injured by a vehicle on a different stretch of the densely developed roadway in October.
Police said a third pedestrian was hit while crossing a street just off Carpenter Road last Wednesday. The 20-year-old Pittsfield Township woman was taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital for minor injuries and was released later that night, Deputy Police Chief Gordy Schick said.
The driver, a 52-year-old Pittsfield Township man, was cited for failing to yield on a left turn after officers determined the woman was crossing Green Meadow Boulevard near the entranceway to a parking lot in the Ridgewood Apartments, Schick said.
The incident is isolated and is not related to the safety concerns along Carpenter Road, Schick added. However, it does reaffirm the importance of staying aware of pedestrians, and the role that lighting and designated sidewalks play to protect them.
A pedestrian was struck near Ridgewood Apartments last week.
Art Aisner | For AnnArbor.com
Grewal said road commission staff is investigating several ideas, ranging from additional street lamps to implementing mid-block crosswalks between major mile roads. She hopes to bring the township board recommendations for discussion sometime in February.
“We’re very committed to making it more pedestrian-friendly and are working aggressively with our partners to make that happen,” Grewal said.
The roadway between Packard Road and Washtenaw Avenue is slated for repaving in 2012, but Grewal said she and other township officials feel some urgency following the recent incidents.
“We all felt quite strongly that we needed to address pedestrian safety in 2011 and hope that we can by looking at all the possibilities,” she said.
The committee also has discussed several other options, including adding stripes along the road surface and additional traffic lights.
Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.
Comments
Mary HH
Tue, Dec 21, 2010 : 7:28 p.m.
This area, Carpenter, Packard, and Washtenaw, east of Carpenter Road are all high usage areas for both pedestrians and vehicles. One of Pittsfield 's priorities is the safety of non-vehicular users and the safe, efficient flow of all traffic. Pittsfield's citizen Road Committee brings local concerns to the attention of township administration and the WCRC. We are fortunate to be the destination or origination point of business and consumer traffic with residential travel needs. We focus on the needs of all users and finding ways to change the circumstances creating the safety problems. One area that structure and signals cannot address is the human element of pedestrians and vehicle drivers. Please, we need people to be aware of all users of these right of ways. We seek a safe and efficient solution to these problems. In the meantime driver and pedestrian caution and courtesy can save lives. Thanks folks.
Ann English
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 6:29 p.m.
During the early morning, such as 5:40am, Ann Arbor's Main Street intersections, except the one at Huron Street, have flashing yellow traffic signals. The intersection of Wagner and Dexter also has a flashing yellow traffic light during those early hours. Some roundabouts have pedestrian islands on them and pedestrian islands are on Stadium Boulevard. But neither roundabouts nor pedestrian islands could have prevented Harry Westhill's fatal accident; he had just one more lane to cross when the 17-year-old hit him with his pickup. Street lighting would help.
jcj
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 5:58 p.m.
@pvitaly Don't let the facts get in the way!
grye
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 3:24 p.m.
The township could pass an ordinance giving the pedestrian in the marked crosswalk the right of way, just like the one Ann Arbor passed. However if is not properly communicated or enforced, just like Ann Arbor, it will not be very effective. Can't tell you how many times I have almost been hit in crosswalks and how many times I have almost been rearended stopping for pedestrians. Come on Ann Arbor, enforce your new ordinance.
John Q
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 2:16 p.m.
joyce - I wasn't being serious in my comments. But if you read some of the comments of the people that preceded my own, that seemed to be the sentiment they were expressing.
Tom Teague
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 1:40 p.m.
@Joyce - I believe JohnQ may have been resorting to sarcasm and really doesn't believe that pedestrians are second class citizens. Look back at his comment about other traffic matters and I think you'll see he's been pretty reasonable about balancing the needs of pedestrians and drivers.
joyce
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 1:31 p.m.
to John Q...a person is no less than a person if he or she does not drive. Walking is good exercise.
tomato
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 10:56 a.m.
The sidewalk near Ridgewood Apartments is the worst on carpenter from Ellsworth to Packard. Slabs are very uneven. Quite dangerous, especially now. Furthermore, the sidewalk has two steps while it meets the entrance. a wheelchair ever stucked there, and I stopped my car to help the unfortunate disabled.
SonnyDog09
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 10:32 a.m.
pvitaly wrote: "there isn't a "legal" spot to cross on carpenter or washtenaw. There are only the lights that are about a mile apart. " That's not true. On the stretch of Carpenter that this article refers to, there is a light at the entrance to Home Depot/Kroger, and another at the entrance to Target/Meijers. Each of these has a crosswalk. So, one can legally cross at four places along this stretch (Packard/Carpenter, the two lights, and Carpenter/Ellsworth). So, it's not like you have to walk for miles to get to a legal crossing point. If you choose to cross five lanes of traffic without a light, you don't get much sympathy from me.
John Q
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 10:32 a.m.
Let's not inconvenience drivers to provide a safe environment for anyone who has the misfortune of being forced to walk or use a bike. Please allow me to speed down every road as fast as possible in my car. If it means a few casualties, those were probably lesser people anyways since they were of the non-driving class.
Macabre Sunset
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 10:28 a.m.
This could all be solved with a monorail. Everything can be solved with a monorail. Now if only the government would give us $100 trillion to replace Ann Arbor's streets with a coordinated monorail system.
Jim Walker
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 10:05 a.m.
A HAWK might well be the answer. Regards, James C. Walker, Board Member, National Motorists Association, www.motorists.org, Ann Arbor, MI
local
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 10:01 a.m.
Alex Brown, agree totally. If lights were timed to allow traffic to freely move that would be awesome. Truly, I don't believe Ann Arbor wants this. They want stop and go traffic so people are constantly moving at a slow speed. It is one of the more frustrating things about living in Ann Arbor. State Street near Eisenhower and the Mall is like this. Awful during holiday season!
pvitaly
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 9:54 a.m.
@clara, there isn't a "legal" spot to cross on carpenter or washtenaw. There are only the lights that are about a mile apart.
clara
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 9:43 a.m.
Question: The pedestrian injuries/deaths on Carpenter, were the pedestrians crossing legally at the time?
clara
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 9:42 a.m.
HAWK: High-intensity Activated crossWalK signal see: http://www.annarbor.com/news/downtown-ann-arbors-new-pedestrian-hawk-signal-operational/
Leah Gunn
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 9:11 a.m.
@rouzer - A "HAWK" light is a pedestrian crossing which is activated only when someone wants to cross. At other times, traffic keeps going through. There is one on W. Huron St. in Ann Arbor near the "Y" and Lurie Terrace. (No, I can't remember why it is called "HAWK" - sorry!)
breadman
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 8:57 a.m.
Why does it take someone too be seriously injured and/or killed for desinger of a road to discover that something needs to be do? Many years back when Carpenter Rd. was put in there was not the business, senior housing,on the road. take in thought of the people that are local that would rather walk to a store than drive. In the right mind, and safty of others that should have been first. Not just keep building.... SAFTY FIRST!!!
rouzer
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 8:32 a.m.
What's a HAWK light?
Alex Brown
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 8:17 a.m.
@local - more lights do not necessarily mean slowing down the flow. If the lights were synchronized there would be no negative effect. The problem is that traffic lights are not synchronized ANYWHERE in Washtenaw County. In fact, the trend is to install "Smart" signals that rely on sensor loops embedded in the pavement to sense traffic and adjust a set of timing parameters for length of red/green. This works real well during very lightly traveled periods when you are in the only car on the road and the signal is still going through its cycle. Yet the Road Commission refuses to set them to flashing during those periods. More "Overeducated but lacking common sense"!
Alex Brown
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 8:11 a.m.
I can see it now - the Road Commission comes back with their study results - ROUNDABOUTS! They are the answer to ALL the problems! (at least in the opinion of the WCRC)
treetowncartel
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 7:52 a.m.
A big hurdle going forward is the placement of utilities along this street, and in the area in general.Where you might have a ramp and sidewalk meeting for a corner crossing there is a big fat pole sitting in the way. They encountered this problem at the SW cornerof Golfside and Washtenaw when they were trying to make it pedestrian friendly this fall. An example of this can be seen at Carpenter and Packard on the NE corner, in front of the Marathon station. One other thing, this time of year public sidewalks are not that pedestrian friendly. You don't really even know they are there.
Ignatz
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 7:51 a.m.
I suspect a contributing factor during the winter would be the lack of cleared sidewalks. Rather than trudging through the snow and possibly slipping on ice, pedestrians might chance crossing this busy thorougfare where they can.
local
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 7:28 a.m.
This is a heavily traveled road way with many businesses and to list off a few incidents involving pedestrians doesn't seem to qualify as a major problem. What I envision is more traffic lights with cross walks, thus completely slowing down the flow of traffic. Better lighting and sidewalks I am in favor of, but please don't add traffic lights with more cross walks, that area is already slow due to the amount of traffic that travels on it daily.
Leah Gunn
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 : 7:04 a.m.
How about a HAWK light, similar to the one on Huron St. in Ann Arbor? It took a lot of persuading of M-DOT to do it, but it works.