Leaders ante up $700,000 to make city foot friendly

Driven by a pedestrian safety report, city leaders have set aside $700,000 for road improvements designed to enhance pedestrian well-being in some of Charlottesville’s busiest corridors.

A pedestrian safety committee, made up of city staff and residents, explored pedestrian-safety issues for several months in an area that stretches from Emmet Street to Meade Avenue — encompassing large areas of downtown and the University of Virginia. Jim Tolbert, director of Neighborhood Development Services for the city, said the study area eventually expanded to include Preston Avenue and Cherry Avenue near Tonsler Park.

“As we met with the committee, that boundary grew a little bit,” Tolbert said.

The money — taken from funds already designated in this year’s capital improvement, traffic improvement and sidewalk funds — would allow for upgrades such as crosswalks and ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. City Council approved the allocation at its Tuesday meeting.

In an interview, city resident and committee member Peter Kleeman said, “There’s no shortage of pedestrian obstacles. If we’re going to be a pedestrian city, we really need to address these things.”

The group was formed partly in response to an incident last year in which a wheelchair-bound man was hit by a police cruiser in the city. Gerry E. Mitchell was struck by Albemarle police Officer Greg C. Davis on Nov. 5 as he navigated a crosswalk. Davis pulled into the intersection and hit Mitchell, who was knocked from his wheelchair.

Committee recommendations outline phases of improvements, the first of which would center on streets such as Market Street, Water Street, West Main Street and University Avenue.

On those four streets, crosswalks, ADA-compliant ramps, push buttons at intersections, pictorial signals and crosswalk countdowns would be implemented at a cost of $286,160. About $160,000 worth of enhanced audible pedestrian signals would be installed at “priority locations,” including several on Jefferson Park Avenue and Market Street, and LED crosswalks — where lights in the road blink as someone steps into the intersection — totaling $300,000 are planned. The University of Virginia has already installed similar LED crosswalks at six locations.

During Tuesday’s meeting, councilors expressed concerns about particular locations, such as the intersection of Ridge-McIntire and West Main and along McIntire Road. Councilor David Brown said a crossing near the Omni Charlottesville Hotel, which Tolbert said has been identified as a priority for LED installation because of its traffic volume, needs to be clearly marked.

“That is one place where drivers have not figured out they’re actually supposed to stop,” Brown said.

Brown added that he thinks coordination with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles would be helpful in increasing education on pedestrian rights, and Mayor Dave Norris said similar education programs could be directed toward local bus drivers.

“I’m sure it’s a statewide issue in all urban areas,” Brown said.

The committee’s recommendations also included launching a $30,000 public education campaign about pedestrian safety and the rules of the road, increasing signage and bumping up law-enforcement efforts. Though this proposal was not included in the resolution passed by councilors, Tolbert said public education is instrumental in creating a safer environment for those not traveling in vehicles.

“No matter what we do from a physical standpoint, without public education we’re wasting our time and our money,” he said.

Tolbert said installation of the new equipment would begin early next year. Though an evaluation process has not been set up, Tolbert said he thinks it should be first done three to six months after construction is finished or once a public-education campaign has kicked off.

“I’d rather hear from you more often than hear from people saying that it’s not working,” Councilor Holly Edwards said.

The next phase of the project, depending on how well the first phase’s improvements function, would be to complete the improvements for the entire study area.

“We want to assert the primacy of pedestrian, bicycles and transit,” Norris said in an interview last week. “The car isn’t necessarily king.”