THE CITY OF REDMOND
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
5670 N.E. 85TH STREET
PO BOX 97010
REDMOND, WASHINGTON 98073-9710
FAX (425) 556-2700
(425) 556-2701

October 7, 2002

Ms. Cherie Kittle
Transportation Specialist
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Transportation Operations Room 3408
400 Seventh Street SW
Washington D.C. 20590

Dear Ms. Kittle:

The City of Redmond seeks permission from the Federal Highway Administration to test in-street pedestrian crossing signs at several marked crosswalk locations around the City. We have chosen a sign manufactured by Impact Recovery Systems, Inc. for the test. Digital photos of the sign, and of our proposed test sites, are included in this document.

NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

The City of Redmond is located in the Puget Sound region in Washington State, approximately 15 miles northeast of Seattle. Perhaps more easily recognized as the home of Microsoft, Redmond has experienced tremendous growth in the last two decades. Our current population stands at 45,256. We maintain 79 traffic signals, a rapid expanse of our transportation system from only 11 signals at the start of 1980.

One of the seemingly inevitable consequences of industrial, technological, and residential growth is an increase in traffic and its impact on safety and livability in the community. We log a steady volume of calls from residents who report drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Pedestrian safety is an important and very sensitive issue to City staff. We experienced a horrific tragedy in December 1997 when two City employees were killed in a marked crosswalk in front of City Hall on their way home from work. Since that time we have fortified efforts to respond to pedestrian issues in the community. The Redmond Police Department regularly enforces driver compliance for our State's crosswalk laws. This Targeted Crosswalk Enforcement Operations Program has received national recognition and is shared with agencies in and outside of Washington State. Providing safe pedestrian amenities is a high priority for Transportation Engineering staff. The City's Traffic Safety Specialist was hired to work with Transportation Engineering and the Redmond Police Department exclusively on traffic and pedestrian safety issues.

The City of Redmond actively seeks innovative ways to respond to pedestrian safety concerns. Earlier this year the Redmond Police Department's Operations Support Lieutenant saw the in-street pedestrian crossing signs in use in Maryland. He brought the concept to the City's Traffic Safety Committee for consideration. We have been in contact with several agencies on the East Coast currently testing the signs. Preliminary observations from most of these agencies seem to indicate an increase in driver compliance with state pedestrian laws where the in-street pedestrian crossing signs have been posted.

In our continuing desire to be responsive to the community to pedestrian concerns at problem locations, it is our intent to test the in-street pedestrian crossing signs to determine if they effectively improve driver compliance and the subsequent level of safety for pedestrians at uncontrolled marked crossing locations.

TEST SITE LOCATIONS

We have selected several marked crossings to serve as test sites. These crossings represent a mix of locations for pedestrian traffic. Fourteen signs in all will be installed for test purposes. Our test sites are grouped into four different settings: (1) three in-street pedestrian crossing signs will be installed at marked crossings on public streets outside of Bella Bottega QFC, a grocery shopping center in the downtown; (2) three signs will be installed at marked crossings on public streets that serve as pedestrian connections to urban trails; (3) one sign will be installed at a marked pedestrian crossing that serves employees on the Nintendo campus; and (4) seven signs will be distributed at several marked crossing locations around Redmond Town Center, our City's largest retail center. None of the test sites are located at signalized intersections. None of the test sites are on roadways with posted speeds higher than 30 MPH. The crosswalks selected for the test experience regular pedestrian traffic. Community concern for pedestrian crossings exists at each test location.

CHOSEN TEST DEVICE

We have chosen a sign manufactured by Impact Recovery Systems, Inc. as our test device. The sign is made of high density polyethylene plastic and can either be permanently bolted into the pavement or placed on the ground with a portable rubber base. (NOTE: For the purposes of this test, signs will be permanently installed in the roadway at all test site locations.) The sign has an internal spring that enables it to reposition itself in the event of vehicular impact. The signs have been crash tested at high speeds (up to 50 MPH) without becoming a dangerous projectile or causing damage to the sign or vehicle. Impact Recovery Systems, Inc. was issued approval for this product by the FHWA (#WZ-2A) in January 1998. This approval certifies that the product complies with the NCHRP 350 crash standards and is acceptable for use on the national highway system. The overall height of the sign is 48 inches. The sign face is 12 inches wide by 18 inches high. A double-sided face is standard for this product. Washington State is a "stop for pedestrians at crosswalks" law state. We will convey that message on the sign face legend accordingly. The legend will be black and bolder on a reflective fluorescent yellow green background. The sign will simply tell drivers to stop for pedestrians using the words STOP FOR (each word on a separate line) in 3-inch lettering followed on the third line by the standard symbol of a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

PROPOSED EVALUATION PLAN

It is the objective of this test to determine whether in-street pedestrian crossing signs increase driver compliance by effectively reminding drivers about the crosswalk law in Washington State. Before and after methodology will be used for this test. The in-street pedestrian crossing sign will be the treatment at each test location.

To begin, a description for each test site to include geographic location, type of pedestrian traffic (retail, commercial, or urban trail), roadway configuration, number of travel lanes, posted speed limit, and speed and traffic volumes will be established for each test site. Before the signs are installed, field studies will be conducted at each location to establish baseline numbers of pedestrian crossing and the occurrence of driver compliance. A press release will be distributed to local media to inform the community about the in-street pedestrian crossing sign experiment.

No sooner than 30 days after the signs are installed, a study will be conducted at each test site to observe pedestrian crossings and the occurrence of driver compliance. Data from the second study will be compared with data from the first to determine the impact of the signs on driver compliance at each test site. Schedules and pre-determined test parameters will be established and executed for each test location to avoid bias or influencing the outcome of the experiment.

Community partners are established within all of our test sites. No sooner than three months following the installation of the in-street pedestrian crossing signs, the City's Traffic Safety Program will join with these community partners to gather public opinion on the effectiveness of the in-street pedestrian crossing signs. Drivers and pedestrians will be surveyed to determine if the signs were noticed, if their intent was understood, and whether or not survey participants feel the signs improve crosswalk conditions in terms of safety.

We agree to submit a report to the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Transportation Operations six months following the installation of the in-street pedestrian crossing signs. This report will reflect our activities and our findings at what will be the half-way point of this experiment. We will also include in that report the parameters for the remaining six months of the test period. At the end of the remaining six months of the test period, we agree to submit an annual report to the Federal Highway Administration to reflect the overall findings of this experiment. In addition, we agree to restore all test sites to their on final condition when the test period is complete. We understand that the Federal Highway Administration has the right to terminate the test if it is determined at any time to be a safety problem.

Thank you for your prompt attention. Sincerely,
Susan Byszeski
Traffic Safety Specialist