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Support a Funding Request of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to Install a Protected High-Visibility Crosswalk on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. at Critz Dr.
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Staff:
Department:
Britany Waddell, Planning Director
Planning
Bergen Watterson, Transportation Planning Manager
Planning
Roger Henderson, Transportation Engineering Manager
Public Works
Overview: Three pedestrian fatalities and two serious injuries have occurred in the last five years on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. between Ashley Forest Rd. and Northfield Dr. After a fatality in 2018, Town staff requested safety improvements on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), which owns and maintains Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Staff's request resulted in a series of meetings and an agreement to explore installing a protected crosswalk with a pedestrian refuge island and Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs, the flashing yellow lights) and an extended sidewalk to close a gap on the east side of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. NCDOT staff conducted a 24-hour pedestrian count in March 2018 and counted 123 pedestrians crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. between Ashley Forest Dr. and the driveway at 1200 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. outside of any marked crosswalk.
In early 2021 another pedestrian was fatally struck and NCDOT agreed to install temporary barrels on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. at Critz Dr. to emulate a crosswalk to determine impacts and gather feedback from residents. Most Windsor Circle residents, the neighborhood most directly impacted, did not support the crosswalk because it limited their ability to make a two-phase left turn (pulling into the center turn lane and then moving into a travel lane) out of the neighborhood. In May 2022, Town staff requested that NCDOT try another location for a crosswalk, and NCDOT installed the temporary barrels on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. at Ashley Forest Dr. to gauge imp...
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