CASE STUDY: WHITEFISH BAY, WI

Providing Advanced Warning of Pedestrians in Crosswalks

It was the increased rates of driver yielding – up to 90 percent, according to a St. Petersburg, Florida study – that drew John Edlebeck to the TAPCO Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacon (RRFB) Pedestrian Crosswalk System. In addition, the system had already proven successful in front of the local library.

Wasting no time, John Edlebeck had the TAPCO RRFB system installed at the crosswalk located on the S-curve to prevent a collision. The system enables pedestrians entering the crosswalk to simply push a button to set off extra-large RRFBs utilizing the Interim Approval 21 (IA-21)-approved wig-wag plus simultaneous (WW+S) flash pattern. This provides real-time warning to drivers that there is a pedestrian to look out for.

He selected solar power for the system because it is cost effective and self-sustaining, as well as push button activation for its simplicity.

The next phase of the plan was to integrate other solutions with the RRFB system and expand to more locations, which John was interested in paying for with Wisconsin Department of Transportation Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding. Ninety percent of the program’s funding comes from federal and state money, and the program requires a carefully considered cost-benefit ratio.

“I’ve used the HSIP program for a number of years,” John Edlebeck says. “After we calculated the vehicle crashes and pedestrian crashes on Lake Drive, we worked to show the benefits that improvements would have in order to get funding.”

He partnered with Traffic Analysis & Design, Inc. (TADI), a Wisconsin-based traffic engineering firm, to define the project and develop the HSIP application. John Campbell, TADI’s Director of Traffic Engineering Safety Services, supported using RRFB systems at additional locations due to their effectiveness.

“They’re very good at encouraging people to yield to pedestrians,” he explains. “My experience is that they’ve been very successful, especially on low-speed roadways.”

The application included solar-powered RRFB systems that would be placed both in advance of the S-curve and farther down the road by a school.

Increasing Speed Limit Compliance
The impact of slowing down drivers even slightly cannot be overstated. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a pedestrian who collides with a car traveling 40 miles per hour has a 20 percent chance of survival. If the car is traveling 30 miles per hour, that number jumps to 60 percent. If the car is traveling 20 miles per hour, the number tops 90 percent.

Knowing this, John Edlebeck decided to include four solar-powered Traffic Logix radar feedback signs from TAPCO in the HSIP application because they are proven to reduce speeds where static speed limit signs have been ineffective.

With an adjustable speed detection threshold, these MUTCD-compliant signs can be configured to fit virtually every application. They were just what John Edlebeck had been searching for to reduce the prevalence of speeders on Lake Drive.

Adding Extra Layers of Safety
To further improve safety, TADI suggested the Lake Drive S-curve be reconfigured to feature a staggered crosswalk, also called a z-shaped crosswalk. It would have a pedestrian refuge island in the center, with the two halves of the crosswalk offset slightly from each other.

“There was no spot in the existing median for pedestrians to safely wait,” John Campbell says, “and they were in a really poor position for vehicles to see them coming around the curve. A staggered crosswalk physically directs the pedestrian to walk facing traffic, and the advantage of that is it helps promote eye contact with the approaching drivers.”

Why TAPCO
Whitefish Bay’s previous success with TAPCO solutions was a key reason John Edlebeck chose TAPCO for this project.

“We’ve worked with TAPCO a lot in the past,” he says, “and we have a maintenance contract with TAPCO right now for traffic signals. To us, going with TAPCO on this project was a logical extension of that, and I think these are great products.”

Fortunately, the HSIP application was accepted, and the funding covered the entire Lake Drive project. The installation work was competitively bid according to DOT specifications, and in a matter of weeks all the installations – and the crosswalk reconfiguration – were complete. Lake Drive was transformed.

“I receive data from our police department and DOT, and according to that our crashes are down 20 to 30 percent. It’s substantial.”

John Edlebeck, Director of Public
Works for Whitefish Bay, WI