The first raised crosswalk I’ve seen in Illinois

By On March 17, 2012 · 10 Comments

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The raised crosswalk, a view looking northeast, from the sidewalk. 

Forest Park was a client of mine in 2012 via my work for Active Transportation Alliance; they’re a technical consultant for cities that had grants from the Communities Putting Prevention to Work program. I visited the village with one of their staffers to identify great locations for bike racks (that also included advice on their existing rack inventory, and suggestions for exactly which models to buy).

We would drive around town and then stop and walk a lot. One place where we did a lot of walking was in their downtown, on Madison Street (the same Madison Street as in Chicago). I was pleasantly surprised that their signage reflected the “stop for pedestrians in crosswalk” law, replacing the now-irrelevant “yield for pedestrians in crosswalk” signs. And to top it off, they had talking and lighted signals at some of the crosswalks. I do not support any widespread installation of these: I think they help move our culture in a direction that perpetuates the low respect we have for pedestrians. I believe there are other ways to enforce driver compliance that do not require this kind of equipment.

Forest Park has installed one of those ways: it’s a raised crosswalk (also known as a speed table). It looks like a speed hump, but is much wider, has a flat top, and carries a marked crosswalk (see my article on Grid Chicago “What is an unmarked crosswalk?“). It causes drivers to slow down and has an added – subjective – benefit of intimating that the driver is entering a “protected space”, one for people on foot and that it should be respected. They bring the roadway up to the pedestrian’s level instead of dipping the sidewalk down to the driver’s level.

I don’t know of one in Chicago, but three guys are working to get several installed in a Logan Square traffic circle redesign.

Note: If you are interested in knowing exactly which models of bike racks to buy, learn more at Simple Bike Parking, or contact me directly. I may charge a fee.

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The raised crosswalk as seen from a car moving westbound. 

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  • http://profiles.google.com/alottes Ash L

    how high is it? it still looks like pedestrians have to descend from the sidewalk to access it.

    • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

      How did I miss that?!
      You still have to descend from the sidewalk to access it. The city made no adjustment to the curb ramp height or slope from the previous incarnation. The raised crosswalk is not very high.
      So this is not a model to emulate, but I still give Forest Park credit for modifying their infrastructure.

  • Jennifer

    There are a few in downtown Plainfield. And Alton or somewhere.

  • Erik Swedlund

    How about the three on Lincoln Ave between Leland and Lawrence? http://g.co/maps/p67r2

    • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

      Ah yes. I’d consider that a legitimate pedestrian-oriented street and in a different class than a single raised crosswalk on an auto-oriented-but-getting-away-from-that-street. 

  • John

    Could you elaborate on what you mean by “talking and lighted signals?”  Are these the push buttons to get the walk signals?  If so, they are usually called accessible pedestrian signals.  The locator tones or talking is meant to help the vision impaired locate a crosswalk; seems like a noble purpose.  The light on the push button is to tell people that pushing the button has received a request for a walk signal. User feedback seems like a good thing too, certainly better than uncertainty.

    • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

      The “talking and lighted signals” I am referring to are the signs in the photos. You push a button and it talks – I forget what it says. The same button makes lights flash at drivers and cyclists. 

      Actually, now that I think of it, I don’t think this signal talks – just flashes lights. I think I’m confusing it with a different signal down the street by the McDonald’s. 

      When I was in Amsterdam, there were actuation buttons at (all?) signalized intersections. But I don’t think they were actuation signals as the pedestrian or bicycle signal was always given. I think the purpose of the buttons was to activate the clicking timer. It clicked when it was green for pedestrians/cyclists (who were sometimes on a different phase) and it clicked faster when the timer was close to 0 seconds left. 

      • John

        Thanks for the clarification.  The engineer in me hears “signals” and assumes traffic signals.  I would probably refer to these as beacons, or maybe just lighting attached to the warning sign.

        • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

          Ah. I should reserve signals for lights that control whether traffic should move or stop. 

  • http://www.videoconverterfactory.com/tips/rip-dvd-to-mkv.html Jason Howard

    nice scenery and nice building, they are classic and peaceful.