Last May the city staff made recommendations for new standards for crosswalks and sidewalks within major areas of the city. I was surprised that the new proposals retreated from the decorative look of city crosswalks. While the new versions had safety benefits, they abandoned the decorative look which gives the city character.
I provided comment to city council and staff and believe my feedback helped move the discussion to the final decision to keep decorative styling while adding visibility improvements for safety.
My comments to council were:
Thank you for including the CACT in last night’s discussion about updated crosswalk standards. The following is my personal comment and not that of the CACT.
Upon further thought I would like to comment on a broader change proposed with the new standards. We talked primarily about brick vs. non-brick but the staff recommendation effectively abandons permanently decorative crosswalks. The proposed thermoplastic crosswalks upgrade a basic design with better safety and visibility. It’s a safety improvement over painted crosswalks but it is not decorative. Falls Church should be enhancing character and differentiation from our neighbors. Not the opposite.
I would like the city to make stamped asphalt with high visibility thermoplastic borders (Oak & Broad example) the standard for crossing all major roads in the city. This includes expanding the list to include at least East Broad, West Street, all of Hillwood Ave, Great Falls (north of Little Falls), Little Falls (between Great Falls & Park Ave) and Lincoln Ave (east of Great Falls).
Also, a short google search reveals options that are a combination of the two choices. These should be explored before approval.
https://cactx.com/decorativepaving/
Beyond the major roads, thermoplastic is a safety improvement over painted crosswalks which gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to pedestrian safety by making it the standard for all other crosswalks. Selected thermoplastic crosswalks could have additional colored thermoplastic applied between the white stripes (for example: Oak Street Elementary crosswalks could be blue-white-orange-white-blue-…).
I understand the desire to conclude this update but I do not think the current proposal is the right choice.
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