Sutherland Avenue at Tobler Lane
In early 2024 a student was struck by a vehicle while walking to West High School. This student was crossing Sutherland Ave in a marked crosswalk with the WALK pedestrian signal shown. Left turning vehicles are traditionally a danger to pedestrians due to drivers cutting across the intersection and taking turns diagonally at a high speed.
The City has installed “centerline hardening” and curb bulb-out measures with rubber curbing to protect future pedestrians from those turning vehicles. These measures reduce the speed of turning vehicles by tightening the turns, forcing vehicles to turn at more of a right-angle, and greatly increases the visibility of crossing pedestrians.
Source: State Smart Transportation Initiative
These “quick-build” projects, utilizing plastic or rubber curbing, allow the City to be much more flexible and responsive so that we can make tangible safety improvements at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional construction projects.
Most importantly, centerline hardening has shown to decrease vehicle-pedestrian conflicts by 70 percent and a 10% reduction in the speeds of turning vehicles.
