Painted crosswalk across Orchard Street at Park Avenue is very faded

[partytax]

https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/37.40495/-79.15947

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Reported to Public Works Department through Citizens First:

Across Orchard Street, where it meets Park Avenue, there is a painted crosswalk that has become very faded from vehicle passage. It is currently painted with a "transverse" pattern, but I believe it should be repainted with a high-visibility "continental" pattern for 3 reasons:

* Census tract 7 in which this crosswalk falls is one where 27% of households do not own a motor vehicle. A large portion of the population must walk to jobs and errands.

* Orchard Street has a marked speed limit of 25 mph, and the FHWA Crosswalk Marking Selection Guide suggests that this is a speed at which high-visibility markings will meaningfully improve the likelihood of motorists yielding to pedestrians.

* If painted such that marking gaps line up with the paths of vehicle tires, the cost of maintaining the crosswalk may be reduced relative to a transverse pattern which tires always run over.

Thank you for your consideration.

Nathan

[partytax]

Received response from Citizens First:

Good morning,
I have forwarded your request to Traffic Engineering.  It is work request #23-011278.  Please call 434-856-2489 if you have any further questions.  Thank you.

​​​​​​

Sherilyn Simpson  

Senior Customer Service Representative 

City of Lynchburg  

Communications & Public Engagement  

Citizens First Info Center 

900 Church Street, Lynchburg, VA 24504  

Office 434-856-2489| Fax 434-847-1723 

www.lynchburgva.gov  

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube  

From: Nathan Wyand <me@nathanwyand.com>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2023 5:45 PM
To: Citizens First <citizensfirst@lynchburgva.gov>
Subject: ATTN: Public Works Department

CAUTION: External Sender

Across Orchard Street, where it meets Park Avenue, there is a painted crosswalk that has become very faded from vehicle passage. It is currently painted with a "transverse" pattern, but I believe it should be repainted with a high-visibility "continental" pattern for 3 reasons:

* Census tract 7 in which this crosswalk falls is one where 27% of households do not own a motor vehicle. A large portion of the population must walk to jobs and errands.

* Orchard Street has a marked speed limit of 25 mph, and the FHWA Crosswalk Marking Selection Guide suggests that this is a speed at which high-visibility markings will meaningfully improve the likelihood of motorists yielding to pedestrians.

* If painted such that marking gaps line up with the paths of vehicle tires, the cost of maintaining the crosswalk may be reduced relative to a transverse pattern which tires always run over.

Thank you for your consideration.

Nathan

[partytax]

Replied to email to request update:

Good afternoon. Could I have an update on work request #23-011278 ? Thank you for your time.

[partytax]

Received response and made personal task to request update:

Hello, Please give us a call at 434-856-2489 next week, and we will try to get an update from Traffic Engineering concerning request #23-011278. Thank you and have a great day

[partytax]

Received WONTFIX from city for time being. Keeping open until at least transverse lines are repaired.

Hello, In answer to your question below we did receive comments on 11/28/23 from the Transportation Engineer.  Please see his comments below: Thank you for you inquiry. Pedestrian markings are a thermo plastic, whereas the asphalt pavement is heated manually for the thermo plastic to bond to the pavement surface. The 6 inch longitudinal lines are an MUTCD practice that meets the standard for pedestrian crosswalks. High visibility crosswalks such as continental and piano bar type, are used where pedestrians will cross in front of traffic on the main movements of both major and arterial roadways where there is a high annual average daily traffic(AADT)present. The high visibility crosswalks are labor intensive and incur higher costs as the bonding process takes more time and involves more material. These type crosswalks are typically installed on new road projects that have high traffic counts(AADT) at major intersections, and not across driveways or minor streets. The City may have them installed if there is a crash history involving pedestrians or where pedestrian crossings are located on streets with poor sight distance. The intersection referenced has neither a crash history or a high volume of traffic that supports the use of high visibility markings, thus the City’s position is to stick with the MUTCD standard for minor street approaches. Thank you.

[partytax]

Made personal task to check if crosswalk has been repaired

[partytax]

Somehow never checked if crosswalk repaired. Made another task to check.

[partytax]

Crosswalk not repaired. Resubmitting because I had two requests in original request (re-thermoplastic crosswalk + upgrade crosswalk to high-viz). First one got lost in the second one.

Reported to Public Works through Citizens First:

Good morning. The crosswalk on Orchard Street at the T-section with Park Avenue is very faded and in need of thermoplastic application. Please make this repair to improve the safety of people crossing Orchard Avenue. Thank you for your time!

Nathan

[partytax]

Received response:

Good Morning Nathan,

I have reported this to Traffic Engineering. Thank you for letting us know.

Thank you,

Chonna