Medians & Pedestrian Refuge Areas in Urban and Suburban Areas

The Federal Lands and Highway Division put out an article on researching pedestrian safety in concentrated areas that rings true for San Francisco Residents.  In fact, the Federal Highway Office of Safety and Research have actually taken the time to develop a unique vocabulary and set of safety recommendations for pedestrians in connection with medians on American roadways.

For example, Median is defined as “the area between opposing lanes of traffic, excluding turn lanes.”  Medians can either be open (pavement markings only) or they can be channelized (raised medians or islands) to separate various road users.

In addition, Pedestrian Refuge Areas (or crossing islands)—also known as center islands, refuge islands, pedestrian islands, or median slow points—are raised islands placed in the street at intersection or midblock locations to separate crossing pedestrians from motor vehicles.

The argument about pedestrian safety concerning medians is a simple one.  According to experts, “providing raised medians or pedestrian refuge areas at pedestrian crossings at marked crosswalks has demonstrated a 46% reduction in pedestrian crashes.”  Furthermore, installing such raised channelization on approaches to multi-lane intersections has been shown to be particularly effective.

The numbers in the report also support the argument for implementing the use of raised medians.  For instance, “at unmarked crosswalk locations, medians have demonstrated a 39% reduction in pedestrian crashes.”  For the most part, medians are said to be especially important in areas where pedestrians access a transit stop or other clear origin/destinations across from each other.

For local residents, this assertion may have an impact considering, “midblock locations account for over 70% of pedestrian fatalities.”   Also, these localities are where vehicle travel speeds become higher (which contributes to the injury and fatality rate at similar locations).

The report reveals, “over 80% of pedestrians die when hit by vehicles traveling at 40 mph or faster while less than 20% die when hit at 20 mph.”  Yet raised medians (or refuge areas) are not found in many cities, even though the community needs more curbed sections of multi-lane roadways especially in urban and suburban areas.

Safety experts also say that “Medians/refuge islands should be at least 4 feet wide (preferably 8 feet wide for accommodation of pedestrian comfort and safety) and of adequate length to allow the anticipated number of pedestrians to stand and wait for gaps in traffic before crossing the second half of the street.”  Personally, after reading a little bit about this proposal, it sparked my interest for application in my home city.

In sum, a local plan that both supplements the government’s research and adds a more distinct space for pedestrians in multiple locations across the Bay area sounds like it may help decrease both pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

For more information, please visit:  http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/memo071008/#ped_refuge