[Vision2020] Crosswalk near Wendys

[Paul Rumelhart]

My apologies if this has been discussed here before, but I wanted to 
state my opinions on this.

I worry that someday some person (probably a college student) is going 
to be seriously injured or killed at this crosswalk.  It has all the 
makings of a death trap.  It's on one of the few four-lane streets 
(five, really) around with a higher-than-average-in-Moscow speed limit.  
I've seen so many drivers just cruise on through without even thinking 
about it being a crosswalk, and I've also seen people just pop up from 
the slight incline that leads to it's entrance on the UI side and just 
start hoofing it across the road.  I'm aware of the dangers here, and 
watch it closely, and I've still been surprised to find someone in the 
crosswalk there.  They either popped up like we're playing whack-a-mole 
from the UI side or they were hidden by the other cars that were just 
blithely driving through the crosswalk ahead of them or behind them.  
The signs are nice, but they are not enough.

I appreciate the need for a crosswalk there, since you either have to 
jaywalk or walk a block in either direction or more to get to a valid 
crosswalk.  As it stands, though, I think we'd be safer letting them 
jaywalk - at least they would be cautious of the traffic.  With a legal 
crosswalk there, the old UI-taught behavior of "just walk out there, 
they'll stop" appears to kick in.

Some minor suggestions that might help would include a yellow light 
suspended over the crosswalk, or maybe spotlights on both sides so we 
can see better at night, or possibly a concrete "staging platform" that 
is easily visible amongst the grass so we have a better idea where to 
look ahead of time.  A better idea would probably be to just put a light 
there, one that turns red only if a pedestrian pushes the button.

Anyone have any other ideas?  Are there plans for something to happen 
there that just haven't been completed yet?

Paul