Crosswalk lights, signs represent 1st phase of pedestrian safety plan
SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE | New signs warn pedestrians to use crosswalks, above, and cars to watch for pedestrians. (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
City crews have begun implementing a three-part plan to make Cedar Springs safer for pedestrians with the installation of new signs and crosswalks. The short-term plan should be completed over the next few weeks.
Then, engineering studies will be conducted in February to determine whether additional traffic signals are needed and whether a turn lane should be removed. If warranted, that work will be done in June.
A long-term study will include the possibility of adding a center island with trees and wider sidewalks, and reducing traffic to two lanes.
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Cedar Springs Merchant Association discussed the safety improvements during its first monthly meeting of the year, which was attended by
Paula Blackmon, Mayor Mike Rawlings’ chief of staff.
In response to four traffic accidents involving pedestrians that included two fatalities within two months, the city has been working to find solutions to improve safety in the entertainment district, which the Merchant Association now refers to as The Strip on Cedar Springs.
“We want to see The Strip become the international destination that it should be,” said ilume developer Luke Crosland. He said ilume 2, to be built on property diagonally across from ilume, could break ground within the next few weeks. Crosland favors the two-lane approach to make the area more pedestrian friendly and more attractive.
He mentioned that The Strip does $30 million in alcohol sales annually and he’s about to invest $55 million in construction there — and he expressed frustration with the city for not paying closer attention to an important economic engine.
The short-term solution for traffic and pedestrian safety is almost complete. That plan began with the installation of additional street lighting early in January.
New crosswalks have been painted at Knight Street, with eye-level yellow warning flashers added at Knight and Reagan streets. For the first 30 days, the lights will flash constantly to warn drivers of pedestrians in the area. After that, they’ll be activated by buttons.
“No pedestrian crossing” signs were installed in the middle of the block in front of Kroger and ilume. Additional police enforcement has also begun. On Thursday morning, police cars were patrolling Cedar Springs Road after Buli owner Robert Clauson and others at the meeting asked for additional patrols.
Also this week, a push to educate pedestrians got under way. The effort includes fliers distributed by Cedar Springs merchants to explain the pedestrian crossing lights and encourage everyone to cross only in marked places.
The last item on the first phase of the plan is the lighted crosswalk near the Round-Up Saloon, which will be raised 6 inches to slow traffic. Yield bars will be painted in the street in advance of the crosswalk to distance vehicles from pedestrians.
In February, a study will be conducted to determine whether traffic signals are needed at Knight Street and Reagan Street. The study is expected to show that a signal is needed at Knight Street. The signal has already been paid for and would be installed in June.
The study is also expected to call for the removal of the island and turn lane on the southeast corner of Cedar Springs and Douglas.
Cedar Springs Merchant Association Executive Director Scott Whittall said the study may determine that from Reagan Street onto Cedar Springs would be safer as a right turn only from either direction.
The plan also calls for looking for “opportunities to install trees or other vegetation to calm traffic.”
CSMA formed two committees. One will be to create a long-term traffic plan for The Strip. The second is to create a plan for where taxis can stop to pick up fares along Cedar Springs Road.
Whittall announced upcoming events on Cedar Springs including the March Wine Walk and Easter in the Park. The Merchant Association took over that event last year with just a few weeks notice when its longtime sponsor, the Turtle Creek Association, pulled out.
Whittall said that word-of-mouth about last year’s reintroduction of Razzle Dazzle Dallas was strong. He expected twice as many people to attend this year’s main event on June 9. An announcement about entertainment will be made soon.
He also announced a new marketing campaign. He said that the entertainment district’s Facebook page was taken down and will be reintroduced in March after a new logo is chosen from a contest the merchants are holding.
The group is marketing the area as The Strip on Cedar Springs, which is how it is now most commonly known. Since Crossroads Market closed, few continue to refer to the area as The Crossroads.
Whittall compared The Strip’s Facebook fan page to that of Bishop Arts District. BAD has more than 17,000 fans, while Cedar Springs had just a few thousand. He said that was because the page was called the Cedar Springs Merchant Association, which sounded like it was a trade group rather than an entertainment district.
The logo contest-winner will be named at Easter in the Park and the new The Strip on Cedar Springs Facebook page will be launched then.
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The Cedar Springs Merchant Association is running a contest to design a new logo. For more info or to enter, go to TinyUrl.com/8yb7uj8.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 27, 2012.
I hope this works out. This weekend I saw several people crossing from the Illume to Kroger ignoring the signs. I would caution anyone turning off of Reagan onto Cedar Springs (between TMC and BEP) to be really careful it is really hard to see oncoming traffic around the new signs, the construction, and the cars parked in front of S4…. Not only is it hard to see; in order to see you have to pull up so close you are completely over the crosswalk so please be aware of pedestrians.
I am concerned that the “30 million yearly in alcohol sales” is contributing to careless drivers and pedestrians. Put all the signs, flashers, crossing guards, and whatever up… the buzzed & drunk drivers are always going to be a problem and continue to cause problems [in terms of pedestrian/car crashes].
I was driving Southbound on Cedar Springs from Love Field and immediately saw the new eye-level yellow flashers a good 1/2 mile away on the other side of the Tollway – they immediately catch your attention – and think they will do a lot to alert drivers in the area. The speed limit should be lowered on Cedar Springs between Lemmon and Wycliff. That might help also.
Ooops – I mean between OAK LAWN and Wycliff (not Lemmon).
Seems like a good idea,,, not for me. I wear glasses, with glare free lenses . With headlights and the new flashing lights its harder to see people I don’t like the new flashing lights, can be blinding. maybe more of the light in the road at Reagan and CS would be better.. and the people in Oaklawn have the tendency to wear black. Makes it hard to see peds.
Was using the crosswalk in front of Ilume yesterday afternoon and was shocked that cars actually stopped to allow me to cross. Unfortunately, the traffic coming from Throckmorton were not as gracious and I was unable to cross. Had to wait until it was COMPLETELY clear. Better than before but Dallas drivers are still idiots.
Those flashing lights at Knight and down the street are VERY distracting and can cause you not to see someone. Everytime that I drive down there at night, the lights are strobing so quickly that sometimes I fear I might hit someone because the lights might cause me to have a seizure. It is an extreme safety hazard to have them flashing continually. From a half a mile away you see nothing but this yellow strobing lights, and it causes your eyes to be fascinated by the “shiny” thing and takes your mind away from watching the road, even if just temporarily. I think the continuous flashing lights is the tackiest thing about the block nowadays.