Shawano officials recently raised safety concerns about the crosswalk that takes the Mountain Bay Trail across East Green Bay Street, with some worried it’s only a matter of time before an injury or death occurs.
“We’re setting somebody up for a disaster,” Alderman Bob Kurkiewicz said at a meeting last week of the Common Council.
The city has been applying annually since 2007 for grant money that could make the crosswalk safer and has been denied every year. That’s because, so far, there haven’t been any accidents at the crosswalk.
“It isn’t meeting the warrants necessary to be eligible for the grant funding,” City Administrator Brian Knapp said.
The absence of injuries or accidents could be because many people are afraid to use the crosswalk, according to city officials.
The crosswalk, located just west of Lakeland Road near Woodlawn Cemetery, traverses a four-lane state highway that is perhaps the busiest street in Shawano.
“Pedestrians are having a difficult time with that,” Kurkiewicz said. “Even if you slow down to stop, they’re leery about the other traffic.”
The crosswalk does have a warning sign in the middle of the four lanes designating it for pedestrian right-of-way, and state law requires motorists to stop for them, as well as for bicyclists and snowmobilers who use the trail.
Typically if anyone does stop, it’s the motorist in the lane closest to the pedestrian.
“Unfortunately, the other motorists don’t necessarily see the pedestrian waiting,” Knapp said. “They may just keep blasting through there.”
A pedestrian has to either enter the crosswalk or be near the curb for the mandatory stop law to kick in.
Knapp said the crosswalk danger has limited the number of people who might otherwise be making use of the Mountain Bay Trail.
“It does inhibit the use of the trail,” he said. “They’re uncomfortable trying to get across themselves, and they’re uncomfortable letting their kids use the trail.”
The city has regularly applied for grants to cover to a design estimated to cost anywhere from $250,000 to $350,000.
It would provide flashing lights to alert motorists that someone is in the crosswalk and trying to get across, along with a pedestrian refuge in the middle so that pedestrians would only need to cross two lanes at a time.
“The pedestrian refuge isn’t as convenient for snowmobiles,” Knapp said.
If grant funding continues to be denied, the city might have to consider borrowing for it.
“It may be an option,” Knapp said. “It is a dangerous intersection.”
However, Knapp said, even flashing lights and a pedestrian refuge might not completely guarantee safety.
He said similar measures were taken in a community where he used to work.
“We went through a lot of design work to come up with something that would be functional and accommodate the traffic as well as the pedestrians,” he said. “When it was all said and done, the traffic by and large still ignored it.”