Pedestrian Accidents at the intersection of Cape Fear Boulevard and Lake Park Boulevard
North Carolina Department of Transportation has not approved modification of traffic signals at a busy intersection of the town of Carolina Beach
CAROLINA BEACH, NC — According to an online news report at portcitydaily.com, the North Carolina Department Transportation (NCDOT) has not given the green light to the Town of Carolina Beach to modify traffic signal patterns at a busy intersection located within the municipality. However, it is willing to implement certain modifications to enhance traffic safety. This is following the recent death of a one year old who was going across the roadway with her grandmother at the intersection of Cape Fear Boulevard and Lake Park Boulevard.*
It may be surprising to some that municipalities in North Carolina do not have autonomy over roads that are maintained by the state. This is why many requests must go through the NCDOT for changes to be made to alleged unsafe roads.
According to the town of Carolina Beach, they have requested that the NCDOT contemplate all red multi-directional crosswalks (known as scramble crosswalks) at the intersection where the child was killed. This would result in traffic stopping in all directions and allow pedestrians to cross a roadway diagonally and on all sides of the intersection.
This was rejected by the NCDOT because scramble crossways are not common in North Carolina plus these types of crosswalks would cause significant traffic delays.
“It is our understanding that we do not have this Barnes Dance/Pedestrian Scramble intersection anywhere on our State system. Also, the only confirmed all red pedestrian phase intersection on the State system that we are aware of is in Chapel Hill at the intersection of NC 86 Columbia Street with Cameron Avenue. My understanding is that this was put in at the request of the Town who requested it on behalf of UNC. This intersection is in an urban/campus setting with narrow lanes and slower speeds and has a one-way approach for one of the NC 86 legs,” per the official response from the NCDOT to the town of Carolina Beach.
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Source:https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2019/06/11/ncdot-wont-allow-scramble-crosswalk-at-deadly-carolina-beach-intersection-open-to-other-improvements/