By Justin Vellucci
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 14, 2006

Pedestrians might want to know if the intersection they are entering is one of Pittsburgh’s most dangerous.

Just don’t ask PennDOT.

That was one message delivered Wednesday by Carnegie Mellon University students who urged officials to upgrade six high-risk intersections, but stressed a lack of information from PennDOT made it difficult to determine where Pittsburgh pedestrians face the greatest danger.

Safety … has taken a backseat to other issues, In the next 10 years, we should become one of the safest cities for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.-Councilman Bill Peduto

“This project has been very hampered by our inability to obtain data,” said Joel Tarr, a CMU professor of history and policy. “(But) this project will continue.”

The students called for repainted crosswalks, countdown timers and signage at three intersections Downtown and three in the university’s Oakland neighborhood.

They are:

• Bigelow Boulevard and Sixth Avenue, Downtown.

• Stanwix Street and Forbes Avenue, Downtown.

• Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street, Downtown.

• Fifth Avenue and Morewood Avenue, Oakland.

• Morewood Avenue and Forbes Avenue, Oakland.

• Forbes Avenue and Devon Road, Oakland.

The students also recommended prohibiting turns at some red lights, building pedestrian refuge islands and stepping up education and law enforcement.

They also encouraged city officials to form an advisory committee and make pedestrian safety at least as high a priority as their predecessors did during the first half of the 20th century, when more local studies were being done on safety issues.

City Councilman William Peduto said he was ready to accept that call to arms.

“Safety … has taken a backseat to other issues,” he said. “In the next 10 years, we should become one of the safest cities for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.”

Peduto said he plans to urge the state to release information that could help improve Pittsburgh intersections. He also said the Carnegie Mellon recommendations could be funded with ticket revenue generated by cameras he hopes to install at several city intersections.

The study was based on police and federal safety records, a campus poll, hospital injury reports and other data.

Others not involved in the study suggested the path to improved pedestrian safety requires more personal responsibility.

Steven Spurgeon, a CMU sophomore, said he’d like to see improved timing on some crosswalk lights, but stressed education might improve high-risk spots as much as new signage.

“I think the biggest problem is that people don’t pay attention to the signs,” said Spurgeon, 19, a materials science major, as he prepared to cross Forbes Avenue.

Melissa Clarkson, 33, a CMU graduate student in design, said, “That’s the biggest issue — people crossing without the ‘Walk’ signal,” as nearby pedestrians disregarded red lights to cross Forbes Avenue.

PennDOT officials played down efforts to label intersections based on past accidents.

“There are so many factors that go into why crashes occur that PennDOT feels it is meaningless to issue rankings of so-called dangerous intersections,” PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said.

“Also, there are provisions in state law that prohibit the use of crash data in lawsuits, and PennDOT tries to strike a balance between maintaining that protection and informing the public about crash information. In any case, we don’t issue such rankings and don’t participate in such initiatives.”

Justin Vellucci can be reached at jvellucci@tribweb.com.