Sewickley pedestrians and motorists may soon see a change in how they manage major intersections in the borough.

Officials want to give walkers a three-second head start before traffic lights or turning arrows turn green.

Intersections to be adjusted include Ohio River Boulevard at Chestnut Street, River Street and Walnut Street.

Intersections within the borough’s business district that will be adjusted are Broad at Thorn Street and Beaver at Broad Street.

Borough engineer Mike Galet said the goal is to reduce accidents and near misses.

“There were multiple complaints from residents about safety on Ohio River Boulevard and the Village overlay,” Galet said. “Right as the right-turn lane would turn green is immediately when the crossing signal would happen.”

The adjustment would keep all traffic lights red for three seconds.

Pedestrians would have to press the crosswalk button on the poles to activate this, as well as the normal crossing signal.

Galet said it is not an additional three seconds of walk time, but a pause for motorists and time for walkers to get into the drivers’ field of vision.

The borough would monitor the intersections and resident feedback for a few months to see if further adjustments are warranted, or if there are major traffic backups and the intersections need to revert to their original timing.

“There are other options we can do,” Galet said. “We’ll have to gauge from resident complaints if there’s too much of a traffic queue. PennDOT will get involved in the items along Ohio River Boulevard because those are their intersections. We’ll work with PennDOT to monitor and analyse those streets. We’ll go out ourselves and analyse the intersections in the Village.”

Intersection timing

Pedestrian crossing time on Broad Street varies at each intersection and is calculated based on the average walking speed of a pedestrian and the length of each crosswalk, according to the engineer’s report.

At Beaver Street, the crossing distance is 22 seconds with 10 seconds of walk time with a white light and 12 seconds of red flashing countdown or “don’t walk time.”

At Thorn Street, the time is 22 seconds with 11 seconds of walk time and 11 seconds of a flashing don’t walk time.

The Ohio River Boulevard crossing time at the Sewickley intersections is 38 seconds with a 10-second walk time and 28 seconds of flashing don’t walk time.

Pedestrians who have not entered the crosswalk by the time the red countdown begins are encouraged to wait until the next signal.

Intersection adjustments are expected to be made by the end of the year.

Galet said the original plan was to have things ready in August. However, extra equipment was needed to ensure everything worked correctly.

The change has the support of council and the borough police department.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Councilman Tom Rostek. “As a pedestrian in the town, I’ve noticed you walk up to that (Broad Street) intersection to cross. If you don’t hit that button in time, you’ve got to cross against the signal if you want to cross. Not every motorist recognizes that.”

Rostek highlighted the borough’s walkability and the need for people to be aware of their surroundings.

“I’m really happy that the walk sign will always be on when you’re crossing with the traffic, and I think the three-second lead time will add a lot of safety, too, so no one is jumping the light,” Rostek said.

“The intersections in town are really active for pedestrian traffic. Constant, constant pedestrian traffic, and adding a head start for the pedestrians is a big deal. Improving the pedestrian situation for those who cross the boulevard to come up to our downtown area is a really big deal. This place is about pedestrianism and I’m glad we can enhance the experience.”

Police Chief Dave Mazza said pedestrians have been struck by vehicles in previous years, though he couldn’t recall any so far this year as of Aug. 25.

“We may have had some complaints, but the ones we’ve had, we’ve been able to be reactive and look at them on our cameras and evaluate them,” Mazza said. “Certainly speed is a factor or devices (like cellphones) and people not paying attention. It is a two-way street where people can’t just walk out into a street thinking a vehicle’s just going to stop. You have to look both ways and make sure the vehicle’s a safe distance away or (drivers) acknowledge that somebody’s walking.

“The additional three seconds is going to certainly aid in reducing those incidents, but not at those crosswalks that are mid-block, where there is no traffic light. When vehicles are forced to stop, they’re going to recognize someone crossing the street now. It can’t do anything but help.”

The mid-block crosswalks are painted and have signage to increase visibility.

State law requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. It is also illegal for motorists to pass a vehicle that has stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

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