Pedestrian safety in Hailey is under way
Guest opinion by Aaron Domini
Guest opinion by AARON DOMINI
Aaron Domini is a member of the Hailey Traffic Committee and Citizens for Smart Growth.
This letter is in response to a recent editorial titled "Pedestrians Run Hailey Gauntlet."
I agree with this article, clearly not enough has been done in the past to address pedestrian safety in Hailey, and the Hailey Police Department has yet to set the precedent that the city will not tolerate speeding. The few sting operations to regulate automobiles yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks have raised some eyebrows, but more needs to be done. Many residents continue to actively request the city to increase traffic enforcement on Main Street in Hailey to make it clear that there is a serious pedestrian-automobile conflict.
In response to the community's concerns, Mayor Susan McBryant initiated the creation of the Hailey Transportation Committee. The mayor asked the committee to focus on developing solutions to the safety problems on Main Street. The group working with the mayor consists of city staff, representatives from the Hailey Chamber of Commerce, transportation planners from Wood River Rideshare and Citizens for Smart and citizens at large. This committee has been working over the past several months to outline a plan to address pedestrian safety problems. The more significant changes proposed are to Main Street-Highway 75, which is under the jurisdiction of the Idaho Transportation Department and therefore require buy in and support from ITD. Some of the components of the plan include:
· Increase police presence to enforce speed limits and pedestrian right of way.
· Providing additional crossing flags at specific crosswalks in the city equipped with reflective tape.
· A comprehensive educational campaign (bumper stickers, car window signs and a banner on Main Street promoting pedestrian safety).
· Installing turn signals on both Main and Bullion at the intersection.
· Providing for extra pedestrian crossing time at Main and Bullion streets.
· Increasing the size and shape of the bulb-outs at Main and Bullion to make pedestrians more visible and to reduce the distance pedestrians have to cross.
· More visible crosswalks (texturing, coloring).
· A comprehensive Safe Routes to School program at Hailey Elementary.
· Re-striping Main to help slow traffic.
While this committee understands the need for urgent and immediate action, there is a concerted effort being made not to make hasty changes that may inadvertently cause additional traffic and pedestrian problems. Change is slow, however, we feel we have made significant progress in developing solutions that will have a lasting positive effect. Automobile operators also need to take personal responsibility for their actions to make this a successful campaign. In the end it is an individual speeding or not paying attention while turning that makes our streets dangerous.
A public meeting will be held in early January to unveil the committee's proposal, provide an opportunity for citizens to review conceptual designs and make comment on each proposed action item. This date will be published soon. We appreciate the community's interest and desire to make Hailey a pedestrian friendly town, and look forward to seeing you all in early January.
