New traffic signals speak to pedestrians downtown
OCEAN AVE. — Before you cross the street here, you’re going to have to do more than look both ways. Now you’ll have to start listening, too.
New crosswalk signals at Colorado and Ocean avenues, as well as at Broadway and Ocean Avenue, were installed late last month that speak to pedestrians, telling them which direction they are walking and how many seconds they have to cross the street.
The locations were selected by City Hall’s traffic engineer and disability coordinator because the intersections are heavily used. On a busy day, the crosswalks heading toward the beach are used by hundreds of people at a time. Last year, there were six pedestrian versus car accidents at the intersection of Colorado and Ocean avenues, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
The audible pedestrian signals replaced standard ones that emanated a chirping or “cuckoo” sound, which indicated how many seconds people had to cross. They also were designed to indicate which direction people traveled.
“There was a question of whether the chirp told people what direction they were going in,” said Lucy Dyke, City Hall’s transportation manager. “They might not necessarily know which way to go and people also didn’t have the benefit of the hand which displays when to stop going.”
Not only were the sounds confusing, they also were annoying. Many people who live and work in the area complained about the constant noise.
“The cuckoo sound indicated you were going east and west and the chirping was for north and south but they were a little annoying,” said Gerald Tom, the city’s traffic engineer. “This new audible signal is a little less confusing. It gives clear direction to people and it’s designed more to tell you that it’s OK to step off into the street.
“They are not too loud because we want to be cognizant of the residents and people around there,” Tom added.
Designed for the visually impaired, the new pedestrian signals give people the option to push the button to hear the voice instructions.
City officials said the new signals are being used on a trial basis and more will be installed if the public likes them. City Hall had an excess amount of regular crosswalk signals and traded them in for the audible ones, which on average cost about $5,000 a piece, or $100 more than the traditional ones, said Barry Matas, a sales representative for Polara Engineering, the Fullerton-based company that manufactures the signals.
Matas said cities across the country are using the new signals, particularly in busy traffic corridors. Cities also request the signals for people with special needs or disabilities. The signals are ADA compliant.
“It helps keep people safer,” Matas said. “No one is really safe out there, but we hope we can at least guide people and make it easier.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 6, 2005. Read the original PDF.