D.C. Pedestrian Safety Strategy to Target High-Crash Intersections

D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said that "people are terrified crossing the streets, depending on the time of day and the location." He said immediate action is needed, and not just downtown. One hot spot he cited: 16th Street and Park Road NW, where a 24-year-old District woman was killed by a turning Metrobus just days before the Valentine's Day 2007 accident.

In recent months, meetings have taken place across the city. Council members Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) are among officials who have sponsored safety workshops for their constituents in the city's upper Northwest and Capitol Hill areas.

Many talks feature Bill Schultheiss, a traffic engineer and consultant to the District, who has made it his avocation to get his message across at such forums. Although he's also an advisory neighborhood commissioner, it's his laptop rather than his elective office that commands attention.

Over the past year, Schultheiss has loaded his computer with maps and photos of the entire city. With those, he has compiled hundreds of PowerPoint slides illustrating ways to slow down cars and make some of the city's more dangerous intersections safer for those who walk.

He stressed that streets would be safer if people simply slowed down and obeyed the laws. "Instead," he said, "we have to pay a fortune to make people change."

Schultheiss often tells residents and officials that they have options besides loading the streets with more red lights and stop signs. "To rely on one tool leads to failure, you need variety," Schultheiss said. "It's more than a speed bump, it's more than a stop sign."

Among his suggestions:

· Give pedestrians a few seconds head start at stop lights, before cars are given a green signal.

· Combine speed bumps and crosswalks.