blog-ni-cross

Neighborhood Improvement Project 1:

Operation C.R.O.S.S

(Cars reduce our street safety)

I just want to be able to cross the street. I don't think that is a lot to ask for.

There is a cross walk a few blocks from my house with a button that turns on a flashing lights. The street is 4 lanes with 2 going in each direction.

During busier times of the day, there is a constant flow of cars in both directions. Using the crosswalk is all but useless as most people will not stop for you. You do get the occasional driver who will stop at the crosswalk, but other drives behind the stopped car will change lanes and continue through the cross walk. Some drivers behind the stopped driver will even begin to honk trying to pressure the stopped vehicle to drive through the crosswalk as I am trying to cross the street.

The only way I have found to be able to cross the street is to walk in front of the oncoming cars which is obviously a risky strategy. I often ride my bike, and have to cross this street to ride towards the good stuff in the area. Without the acceleration of a gas engine or electric motor, you're not going to make it across all 4 lanes of traffic. So I choose to cross a the crosswalk. With my bike, I use the same strategy except I dismount and roll the bike out ahead of me so I'm blocking the road with the bike not my body.

I had seen other communities online that shared a similar issue at their crosswalks and had implemented a flag system. A pedestrian would pickup a safety orange flag that was located in a holder attached to the crosswalk sign post and hold the flag out to attempt to capture incoming driver's attention. I decided to try this technique out but take it to the next level. Instead of a orange flag, I figured why not use a stop sign like a crossing guard. An orange flag may alert the attention of a driver to a pedestrian, but just because a driver sees you, doesn't mean their going to stop. At least, that's been my experience. Every driver should know that a stop sign means stop.

For about $40 dollars, I was able to make 4 hand held stop signs with basic tools. I ordered a packet of 4 stop signs online and got the remaining materials from the hardware store.

Step 1: Handles

I cut some wood to handle size and drilled holes to line up with the stop sign holes. I sanded down the wood and painted the handles. After they were dry, I added a coat of marine grade epoxy that I had laying around to stop them from corroding in the rain. The epoxy wasn't necessary, but I had it laying around so why not.

Step 2: Assemble

Once the epoxy was dry, I bolted the signs to the handles. Easy Peasy!

Step 3: Sign Holders

Using some old 2" PVC I have laying around, I used a bastard file to make a slot cross the top and drilled 4 holes in a crucifix shape perpendicular to the slot. I made two holders for each sign. One for each side of the street.

Step 4: Marking

Using a sharpie, I added a short explanation of why the sign was there and how to use it. I also added a little note asking people not to steal the sign.

Step 5: Install

Using zip ties through the drilled holes, I zip tied the holes to the cross walk poles. I originally planned to put 4 holders per pole and have 4 stop signs at the crossing, but there was not enough space for that many signs on one pole so I decided to only put 2 holders per pole and have 2 signs at the crossing.

Now we'll see how long the signs stay out there before someone takes them to put on their garage wall :/

Will update when either the signs are stolen or if I see someone using them. If it looks like it works, I'll put the other two signs further down the road at another crosswalk.