07-19-2021, 01:24 PM
(07-19-2021, 12:41 PM)ac3r Wrote: As in walking across the tracks, but was then met with a train maybe 10 feet away honking the horn. That should not be permitted to occur.
This article explains how messed up that crossing is. You can have a white OK-to-walk signal and yet the train goes through regardless. I'm sure it would have stopped but it's still a ridiculous intersection. The fact that the beg button can only be pushed by walking across makes it even worse. If it were a child trying to cross the street, who didn't know they had to expect the train, that could result in an accident. There is - at most - 4 feet of room to stand on and you end up sandwiched between a train and fast moving traffic standing there. It wouldn't be as bad if they had a short pole with the beg button on it before the tracks, but the way it is now is just inviting an accident to occur, either from the train itself or an inattentive driver.
But you don't have a walk signal, the walk signal is for the road, that's why the beg button isn't on the near side of the crossing. This is the same as every channelized turn in the city.
And like I said, the risk is very low because the train is going slowly. This is why there are towns in Europe with trams through the middle of pedestrian areas, which don't see frequent collisions because the tram is going slowly.
I agree there are problems with the design of this crossing, but I don't believe safety is one of those problems.