Flags Over Dane County Adopt-A-Crosswalk Program - Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County

Flags Over Dane County
Adopt-A-Crosswalk Program

 Safe Community Coalition
of Madison and Dane County

What is the Pedestrian Flags Over Dane County Adopt-A-Crosswalk Program?
The Adopt-A-Crosswalk Pedestrian Crossing Flag Program involves placing orange
flags in containers at each end of a crosswalk. People wanting to cross the street at
the crosswalk pick up a flag to signal to drivers their intent to cross the street, then
cross the street and place the flag in the container on the other side for the next
person to use. The flag is a powerful new pedestrian-to-driver communication tool.
The pedestrian can more easily assert his statutory right to cross in a crosswalk,
while the driver has a clear visual signal that the pedestrian is intending to cross.
The flag doesn’t automatically make drivers stop, so you must exercise the usual
caution about stepping into the path of a moving vehicle. However, it does generally
make crossing the street a much faster, safer, and more pleasant exercise for the
beleaguered pedestrian. For more how-to details, see “Tips for Pedestrians,” page 5.

Where did this idea come from?
Several U.S. cities are using the flags, most notably Kirkland, Washington and Salt
Lake City, Utah. Salt Lake City has 105 “flagged” crosswalks, and only one injury
at these intersections in nearly three years of operation. The Safe Community
Coalition of Madison and Dane County’s (SCC) program is based on the experience
of these communities.

Madison’s Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association brought pedestrian crossing
flags to Dane County. Their experience has helped shape the information in this
booklet so other community groups in the area can implement this program.

How do I Adopt-A-Crosswalk in my neighborhood or community?
Contact the Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County. You can
download an Adopt-A-Crosswalk Pedestrian flag application at
www.safecommunitycoalition.org or contact us at 256-6713 or 238-5612 to receive an
application. The Coalition will guide you through the Adopt-A-Crosswalk process: local
traffic safety agency approval, neighborhood connections, publicity, and education steps
needed for the pedestrian crossing flags to be successfully implemented.

What guidance can you give about selecting a location for a flagged crossing?
Perhaps the most important criterion is: where are the most people having the most
difficulty crossing the street in your neighborhood or community? The Adopt-a-
Crosswalk application asks a few questions about this: is there significant (or
potentially significant) pedestrian traffic at this location; is the crossing on a busy
street; have you received complaints about difficulty crossing at this location from
neighborhood or community residents?

A second guideline is safety. In this initial stage of Pedestrian Flags Over Dane
County, the community is just learning about the flags and the yield-to-pedestrians
law. Locations with lower traffic speeds, fewer lanes for pedestrians to cross, and at
crossings where pedestrians are easily seen by motorists are the safest candidates for
flagged crossings.

Finally, since flagged crossings require daily checking to ensure that flags are
available to pedestrians, it is important to select a location where volunteers can be
relied upon to monitor the flag supply. Neighbors who live near the crossing, an

adjacent business, police officers on regular patrol, or employee groups who use the
crossing are all potential “flag monitors.”

If the number of requests for flagged crossings exceeds funds available, the
Coalition will provide “starter kits” for locations with higher levels of pedestrian
and vehicle traffic. Also, the adopting organization’s ability to monitor and maintain
the flagged location is an important selection criterion.

What if our group wants to create a flagged crossing without Coalition financial
support?
That’s great – thanks! You'll still need to have the location approved by local traffic
authorities, and follow specifications for flags, listed below. The Coalition can help
with the local approval process if you complete and return the “Adopt-a-Crosswalk”
form. In the interest of safety, your group is strongly encouraged to garner
community support, and to educate pedestrians and motorists in ways suggested in
this brochure.

Who else needs to be involved?
The Pedestrian Flags Over Dane County Program will be most successful in your area if
there has been involvement of the neighborhood to Adopt-A-Crosswalk prior to placing
the flags at the crosswalk. Neighbors, businesses, and local elected officials in the area
should be involved. It is important to educate people on how to use the flags ahead of
time. This can be done by including the flag project on the agenda of a neighborhood
meeting or public hearing, including articles on the flag project in neighborhood
newsletters and community newspapers, leafleting the neighborhood, and placing
information in businesses near the proposed flag crossing. Check the Coalition website
at www.safecommunitycoalition.org for samples.

How many flags do I need, and who pays for these?
The Safe Community Coalition will provide a “starter kit” of flags and flag holders to
groups that submit a successful application. The crosswalk-adopting group will be
expected to match the SCC’s fundraising by replacing flags as needed. Flags,
unfortunately, have a tendency to “walk away” from the crossing location, mainly in the
first few weeks at a new crossing location. The adopting organization’s cooperation in
trying to minimize the loss of flags through their educational efforts is appreciated. It is
the adopting organization’s responsibility to obtain replacement flags. Making
replacement flags is simple and fast. The Coalition or Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood
Association can provide directions and sources. Continued neighborhood or community
involvement is needed for the project to be ongoing at any given location.

To purchase and make replacement flags, the flags should meet the following
specifications for better visibility and pedestrian safety:
    Flag Color: orange
    Flag Size: between 12”x12” and 18”x18”
    Pole Length: 24 to 36 inches
    Printing/logos: The name of the sponsoring organization or business may be
    printed in black letters on the flag holder. No logos can be used on the flags.

Watching for traffic and waiting for drivers to stop before crossing (not visible in
this picture, pedestrians are sheltered by parked cars where they are waiting at this
location).

  Waving thanks to a driver who
  stopped to let her cross. Eye
  contact, clear communication
  and courtesy are all important
  for making the pedestrian
  crossing flag project work.

Law Enforcement
Local Police Departments play a tremendously important role in keeping
pedestrians safe. They are important partners on your Adopt-A-Crosswalk
pedestrian flag project. Your local police department can be involved by:

    1.   Leafleting motorists at pedestrian crossings during busy times of the day to
         educate motorists about Wisconsin’s Yield to Pedestrians law. A great time
         to do this is just before a crosswalk becomes a flag crossing location.

    2.   Enforcing the law and issuing warnings and citations for violations of
         Wisconsin’s Yield to Pedestrians law at the flagged crosswalk and at other
         locations in the community.

    3.   Providing training to local volunteers and pedestrians at adopted pedestrian
         flag crosswalks in their community.

    4.   Helping a group of neighbors or a business district obtain support for
         adopting a particular crosswalk from local traffic authorities or
         committees.

    5.   If the volunteer effort to maintain an adopted pedestrian flag crosswalk is
         slowing down, helping find new volunteers to keep the project going.

    6.   Adopting a pedestrian flag crosswalk!

Sample Newsletter Articles, Flyers, Signs

          Local Pedestrians Arise to Carry Their Flags High!
The Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association (D-MNA) will launch a “Flags
Over Monroe Street” program to help pedestrians assert their crosswalk rights.
Residents are urged to turn out Monday, May 6, at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of
Monroe and Sprague Streets to learn how to navigate crossing Monroe Street more
effectively.

The “Flags Over Monroe Street” pedestrian picks up a flag from a container on one
side of the street, holds it out while crossing, and returns it to a container on the other
side of the street, where it is available for the next walker. We believe the program
will give walkers a faster, safer, and more pleasant crossing. The accompanying “tips”
article gives both drivers and pedestrians more complete information about how they
can help make Monroe Street a safer, more civilized shared neighborhood space.

Trained volunteers will coach pedestrians on crossing techniques during the kickoff
week. Flags will only be available from 5:30 p.m. to dusk, Monday, May 6 through
Thursday, May 9. After this training period, flags will be available during daylight
hours.

Why Are We Doing This?
Even though state statutes require that drivers yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk,
marked or unmarked, at every intersection without traffic signals, drivers are often
ignorant of the law and pedestrians are often fearful to cross. “Drivers act as though
I'm not there in spite of my double stroller and crying baby, and there's seldom a
gap in all the lanes at once,” reports resident Anna Schryver. She is not alone.

The D-MNA Long Range Plan included a survey of residents in which 88% of
respondents identified the difficulty crossing Monroe Street as the worst problem of
the neighborhood. “The Monroe-Sprague intersection is a heavily used pedestrian
crossing and has recently experienced two car/pedestrian crashes in its vicinity,”
stated Ann Clark, D-MNA Transportation Committee Co-Chair.

Lt. Stephanie Bradley-Wilson, head of MPD's Traffic Enforcement Safety Team,
says, “The Police Department has stepped up enforcement and education efforts in
response to the numerous complaints about how unsafe people feel when attempting
to cross the street. The ‘Flags Over Monroe Street’ project is a great opportunity to
educate both the drivers and pedestrians about pedestrian safety issues.”

Flags Over Monroe Street
                         needs your help!
A Simple Idea:
• Pedestrians pick up flags in buckets on either side of the
   Sprague/Monroe crosswalk and leave them on the other side.
• Flags give pedestrians confidence, and give drivers a clear signal to
   yield as the pedestrian intends to cross the street.
• Pedestrians also learn a safe lane-by-lane strategy for crossing which
   does not require a gap across all lanes at once.

Goals:
• To give pedestrians a strategy for more quickly and safely crossing the
   street.
• To educate drivers so they reliably yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk
   as the law requires.

     See next page for important tips for both walkers and drivers!

Tips for “Flagwaving” Pedestrians

1.   Gauge the traffic for gaps in the lane nearest you. (Cars take a long time to
     stop; at 25 mph allow 140 feet or about ten car lengths, more for speeders or
     bad weather conditions, during this period when drivers and pedestrians are
     getting used to the flags).
2.   Point to the other side of the street with the flag (or use your arm at any other
     location), while standing near the curb with at least one foot in the street. Use
     any nearby parked cars to shelter you while you cross the parking lanes.
3.   Maintain eye contact with the driver of the first car that has time to stop. Let
     any closer cars pass by. Step out in the lane cautiously when the car you have
     chosen slows to a stop.
4.   Sheltered in the lane of the stopped car, cross the lane in front of it while
     watching for a suitable gap in traffic in the next lane of traffic. Then maintain
     eye contact with the first driver with time to stop in that lane. Move in front of
     the new car as it stops. Repeat lane by lane until you have crossed all traffic
     lanes.
5.   Remember that the flag is a helpful tool, but you still have to use normal
     caution and good judgment when crossing the street, with or without a
     flag.
6.   Whenever you can, without being distracted, give drivers a smile, a wave, or
     “thanks.” Demonstrate to drivers that pedestrians appreciate their courtesy.

                         Tips for “Flagged Down” Drivers
1.   Obey the speed limit and keep well behind cars in front of you, so you can
     easily stop for pedestrians.
2.   Watch street edges and sidewalks ahead carefully for pedestrians and apply
     your brakes early and gradually so the car behind you can stop, too.
3.   Stop for the pedestrian two or more car lengths short of the crosswalk so cars
     behind you and the pedestrian can more easily see each other around your car.
Remember, the next time you may be the pedestrian, and this pedestrian may be the
driver waiting for you. And thanks for stopping!

Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County
           Pedestrian Flags Over Dane County Adopt-A-Crosswalk
                         Application and Agreement
Crosswalks for the Pedestrian Flags Over Dane County program can be adopted by
neighborhood associations, neighborhood watch groups, business associations, police
departments, local streets departments, individual businesses, or other groups that can
demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a flagged crossing. This Application and Agreement
includes the responsibilities agreed to by the adopting organization should the application be
approved by the Safe Community Coalition of Madison and Dane County (hereafter referred to
as “SCC” or “Safe Community Coalition”).
Please attach a simple diagram of the location you are proposing for a flagged pedestrian
crossing. If you think a photo would be helpful, please attach one.

Crossing of _________________ at _______________________                  ___________________
            (street being crossed) (intersecting street – if              (intersection side, e.g.
                                   mid-block provide landmark)            north, south, east, west)

 This space for local traffic authority’s use only
 Approve             Denied         Reason(s): ______________________________________
                     ___________________________________________________________
 Signature:
                _______________________________________________________________

Sponsoring Organization/Business Name:
Address:
Contact Name (person responsible
   for monitoring flagged crossing):
Phone:
E-mail:
Alternate Contact Name:
Phone:
E-mail:

I/We agree to the following if this adoption is approved (please initial each item you agree to).
The Safe Community Coalition will help guide you through these steps. See the Adopt-A-
Crosswalk brochure or the Coalition’s website at www.safecommunitycoalition.org for more
information about these items as well as sample materials.
                                                                                           Initials
  Contact and elicit the support of neighborhood residents and businesses near this
  crossing about the pedestrian crossing flag program.
  Educate neighborhood residents and businesses near this crossing on how the
  pedestrian crossing flags are to be used.
  Monitor and maintain the supply of flags at the crossing.
  A funding source has been identified for replacement flags (approximately
  $200/year, depending on theft rate).
  Notify the Safe Community Coalition if you/your organization will no longer be
  able to fulfill these agreements.

If your group agrees to adopt this location, and local traffic authorities support the use
of flags at this location, and grant funds and materials are available, the Safe Community
Coalition will provide a grant of materials and educational brochures for you to use to
promote and assemble a flagged crossing. Once flags from the “starter kit” are gone
(some will be stolen) the Sponsor becomes responsible for replacements.
 Sponsor’s Representative Signature:           This space for Safe Community Coalition Use
                                               only

Safe Community Coalition

              of Madison and Dane County
                            256-6713

                scc@safecommunitycoalition.org

                www.safecommunitycoalition.org

Thanks to Arthur Ross and Tom Walsh, City of Madison Traffic
Engineering; Officer Stacey Vilas and Captain George Silverwood,
Madison Police Department; and Ann Clark, Dudgeon-Monroe
Neighborhood Association, for their work to develop this brochure
and the Pedestrian Flags Over Dane County Project.