Streets for People / Key West Improving Infrastructure for Pedestrian Safety

Perhaps you’ve seen the Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons recently installed along Northside Dr. near the Clayton Sterling Baseball Complex and along Eaton Street at Frances Street. Or maybe you’ve come across the new high visibility stamped brick pattern crosswalks near Horace O’Bryant (HOB) School along Pearl Street at Virginia Street and on Catherine Street at Leon Street. And if you’ve been in the Seaport neighborhood, in a car or on foot, you’ve likely noticed a bunch of new crosswalks on Eaton and Fleming Streets that in multiple locations on Eaton also include in-street signs saying, “State Law – Stop for Pedestrians Within Crosswalk.” And low and behold we’ve actually witnessed cars stopping and yielding to pedestrians.

These small safety projects, along with major upgrades coming soon to pedestrian and bicycle facilities included in the current rebuilds of United and South Streets downtown are part of the City Engineering Department’s increased focus on pedestrian and bicycle safety. In a town that for decades has slavishly catered to the whims of car-convenience and car-parking above all else and has often believed safety meant the police educating bicyclists and pedestrians on how to properly adhere to vehicular rules, these infrastructure efforts are a little bit of progress that’s better and safer for everyone, whether on two-feet, two-wheels or behind the wheel.

Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons or RRFBs

In the last year the City has installed two Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons, called RRFBs, within Key West. The first was installed along Northside Dr. near the Clayton Sterling Baseball Complex. The second was installed along Eaton Street at Frances Street. Ryan Stachurski the City’s Multimodal Transportation Coordinator says:

“These are great because studies have shown they’re really effective at reducing pedestrian crashes. Since they’re solar powered, they’re also very affordable. It’s important for pedestrians to understand that the beacons won’t stop traffic, but the signals will call attention to make sure the pedestrians are visible. Motorists must remember that Florida statute requires drivers to stop for pedestrians within a crosswalk.”

High Visibility Stamped Brick Pattern Sidewalks

The City of Key West is testing two new crosswalks near Horace O’Bryant School. One is along Pearl Street at the intersection with Virginia Street and the other is on Catherine Street at Leon Street. The new installation technique makes use of a high visibility stamped brick pattern Ryan tells us is: “both stylish and safe.” He adds: “High-visibility crosswalks constructed from thermoplastic have been shown to reduce pedestrian injury crashes.”

In-Street Pedestrian Crossing Signs

Crosswalks have been installed during the last year along the one-way, busy, and fast moving Fleming Street at William, Margaret, Grinnell, and Frances Streets. On the even busier, two-way, and hard to cross Eaton Street, all the same cross streets and Elizabeth have received upgrades. Says Mr. Stachurski:

“The City has also been testing in-street pedestrian crossing signs to call attention to pedestrians using unsignalized crossings. Oftentimes used temporarily in school zones, permanent signs are being tested at various intersections along Eaton Street and White Street. These crossings can be especially difficult for pedestrians because there may be uneven gaps in approaching traffic and motorists may not be expecting pedestrians. The in-street signs call attention to the crosswalks and offer a safer and easier crossing. Preliminary results show a reduction in injury crashes and collisions overall at these intersections.”

Of all of these projects Ryan says: “These one-off improvements have largely been called for by resident requests and supported with crash data. We would like to develop a plan to identify pedestrian improvement priorities across the City and have begun discussing how best to do this.”

Better Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities Coming With the Rebuilds of United and South Streets

The perfect time to add or improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities is when a street is rebuilt or repaved. And that’s just what is happening on United and then South Streets, both of which are in different stages of street rebuilds between Whitehead and Grinnell Streets downtown. After utility work is done, there will be new curb and gutter and sidewalks that include narrower pedestrians crossings at intersections, lots of new trees and a brand spanking new, extra-width bike lane where none existed before (see our story on these improvements here). Mr. Stachurski told us:

“When larger project areas are being installed, as a number of blocks of United Street are right now, they get designed with updated safety features. United Street will include a number of new high-visibility crosswalks to help ease crossings. Every step helps us get closer to our Vision Zero goal of zero serious injuries or fatalities by 2035. It’s important to remember that we’re all pedestrians at some time, and we all want to be able to get to our destination safely.”

Key West Is Different Than Most of The Mainland – So Our Street Hierarchy Should Reflect That

Key West is full of pedestrians and cars AND bikes and that’s different than most places. According to the U.S. Census 15% of Key West residents’ commute to work by bicycle and another 8% walk to work. Bike shops are selling out of rentals and if you’ve been downtown, you’ve seen pedestrians crowding our narrow sidewalks. There’s a lot of bikes and e-bikes and e-scooters mixing with golf carts, scooters, pedestrians, and cars. As so many of these people on the street are visitors from car-centric mainland places, they aren’t used to these hordes of pedestrians and jumble of vehicle types and that’s a dangerous mix. And it is why our downtown streets should prioritize pedestrians and then bikes and other small vehicles like scooters and then cars.

And while we’ve yet to see any street parking taken away for wider sidewalks or bike lanes, yet, these projects are a start in the right direction. So, kudos to Engineering Director Gary Volenec and Multimodal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski for the new and progressive focus and to Mayor Teri Johnston who’s been egging them on. Doing more of this will make our little island paradise better for everyone.

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Chris Hamilton is founder of the local advocacy group Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown. Subscribe to the blog. Follow on Facebook and Twitter. A native of the District of Columbia, where for a couple decades+ he led nationally renowned efforts promoting transit, bike, walk and smart growth for Arlington County, VA’s DOT. Chris has lived in Key West since 2015. He lives car-free downtown and works and volunteers for a few non-profits. You can find three years’ worth of KONK Life Streets for People column articles here and here. 

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