By Daniel Pye<br><a href="mailto:pyed@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Dan</a>
A study on walking conditions in the City of Tonawanda’s downtown corridor shows there’s plenty to be desired.
The location around the Tonawanda Towers and Tonawanda Senior Center was chosen because of the significant number of older people living and interacting in the area. This area also has several destinations within walking distance that are frequented by older adults, including a drug store and supermarket.
In September, volunteers walked a circuit around Main, Young, Clinton and Adam streets. In the process they crossed two intersections with Seymour Street, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.
While crossing the street, the team noticed a general inability to cross within the allotted time. Pedestrians are given only 10 seconds to cross the four-lane Seymour Street, for example. Mayor Ron Pilozzi, who attended the unveiling of the study, said the city’s electrician disputed that finding.
“My guy told me flat out they made a mistake in their timing,” Pilozzi said.
But that wasn’t the only area found to be lacking. The inspectors found the crosswalk signal on the north side of Young Street didn’t change to allow pedestrians to cross even though the team waited through two lights to verify its findings. Other crosswalk signal buttons allowing walkers to cross Niagara Street or River Road were found to be set too far back, forcing pedestrians to walk up uneven surfaces to reach them. None of the crosswalk signals contained audible signals for those with poor sight. For street crossing the team gave the area a rating of poor — the worst grade it could receive — and recommended an increase in the length of time provided to pedestrians to cross the street.
While he hadn’t yet reviewed the study results, Police Lt. Fred Foels said the signals have already been changed substantially over the years. While the crossing at Seymour is run by a state signal that is harder to get changed than a local light, Foels said the city persuaded the state to change the timing when the department received complaints from wheelchair-bound residents who said the light wasn’t long enough.
“The state lengthened the time before it goes to ‘don’t walk’ to give enough time for a handicapped person to cross the street,” Foels said.
Foels, who sits on the traffic and safety board, also said the length of time allowed to cross the intersection at Niagara and Main streets was changed to give more time for crossing. Signals are also more involved than a simple walk/stop.
“They’re countdown signals across Main. It gives you 28 seconds and counts it off to let you know how much time you have,” Foels said.
Signals aside, other problems were discussed in the study, yet overall fewer problems were found with the sidewalks than were found with the curb cuts. The team identified drainage and location problems with these items. For this section the team gave the area an overall rating of fair, but reviewers still had concerns.
The sidewalk on Adam Street is less than 5 feet wide and the curb cut was located 300 feet from the handicap parking spot. Curb cuts did not have proper drainage creating pooling and puddles at the base of each cutout. The planter in front of McDonalds takes up a significant portion of the sidewalk and walkway surfaces changed to brick in front of store entrances on Main Street, creating uneven footing in some areas. Still, despite some issues with graffiti and trash identified by the team, overall the comfort and appeal was viewed positively. The city took top marks for aesthetic appeal.
Drivers on the streets proved to be a big problem, often neglecting to follow the rules of the road or yield to pedestrians. Most drivers stopped in the crosswalk rather than behind it, and cars rolling through the lights when turning right on red was indicated as the primary problem. For the driver sections the team gave the area an overall rating of fair, recommending that turns not be allowed at all on red lights.
Foels said that had already been tried a few years ago with negative results.
“There was significant backup when we put a ‘no turn on red’ sign over the Seymour Street bridge,” Foels said.
Improvements to existing curb cuts on the route to ensure handicap accessibility were another recommendation, including jutting the cuts into the roadway to hinder drivers trying to shoot around turns. But the mayor said he’s not sure how a protrusion like that would impact the city’s plowing efforts in the winter.
“When we have snow you’re going to be wrecking equipment or a lot of concrete you just poured,” Pilozzi said.
Still, the mayor said he was very interested in the findings and would take them back to the proper places for review. He’s hopeful the group will return once revisions have been made to see how the data has driven decision making and wants to see the city higher up the list.
“I don’t want to be middle of the road. My job is to make sure we’re at the front end,” Pilozzi said.
Contact reporter Daniel Pye at 693-1000, ext. 158.
