 "Photo: Ayelet Daniel")
Newark pedestrians now have a new voice to obey when crossing the street.
An Accessible Pedestrian Signal was installed on the corner of South College Avenue and Park Place on Sept. 25.
Mark Galipo, an engineer from the Delaware Department of Transportation who designed the signal on South College, said its purpose is to communicate verbally to pedestrians when it is safe to cross.
The crosswalk signals were installed as part of a requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the Delaware Department of Transportation Interim Guidelines for the Installation of Accessible Pedestrian Signals.
Galipo said the crosswalks were installed only as an aid to the visually impaired because they are expensive. The signal on South College Avenue and Park Place cost almost $44,000, he said.
“As of right now, they’re installed for the visually impaired,” Galipo said. “The only way they’d install it is if a visually impaired person put in a request for it. We’re just not putting them everywhere because the state would have funding issues.”
The guidelines state that the ADA requires that the public right-of-way is accessible for people with disabilities. The Accessible Pedestrian Signals address the difficulties of people who are visually impaired by featuring a raised arrow on the button, Braille writing and a loud voice that dictates the correct action to take.
Galipo said Accessible Pedestrians Signals are installed under strict guidelines.
“Every time we touch an intersection, we have to bring it up to ADA regulation,” he said.
The ramps have to be at a certain slope, the push buttons for pedestrian signals have to be at a certain height and certain distance and the pedestrian poles themselves have to be a certain distance from the curbs, Galipo said.
Currently in the city of Newark, the only crosswalk that speaks is the one on South College Avenue and Park Place, Galipo said.
“The other ones have an audible tone. It’s the same type of signal. If we have two crosswalks that come together on one corner, we have to have a ten-foot separation between the pedestrian poles to have an audible tone,” he said. “If we don’t have that separation, then we’ll do the talking crosswalk.”
The Accessible Pedestrian Signals are not present in all the necessary places according to students such as Sara Beth Winters, a legally blind senior at the university. Winters, who always walks to class, said she benefits from these audible crosswalks because she is unable to see the other side of the road. She said she has found the crosswalks helpful, but believes they should be in other locations since she has no need to be on South College Avenue.
“Talking crosswalks should be in high volume pedestrian areas where people are more likely to be hit,” said Winters, who was hit by a car on Delaware Avenue earlier this semester. “A lot of drivers don’t think they need to stop on Delaware Avenue.”
Although the talking crosswalks are denied in areas without traffic signals, Winters said she believes such areas may be the locations in which they are most necessary.
“They would be most useful on Main Street since there are no lights, and you are just expected to go and cars are assumed to stop,” she said. “The light at Trabant would also be a good spot if it was the evening or very early morning. These are dangerous spots because cars don’t necessarily stop.”
The voice of the audible crosswalk tells pedestrians when it is safe to cross the street and repeats the word “wait” when it is not safe.
Nick Bucci, a sophomore who lives on Kells Avenue, is one student who noticed the new voice when walking to class.
“I pass the sign to get to all classes,” Bucci said. “There are a huge number of people that pass there because of the Ivy Hall Apartments.”
Bucci said he also noticed the audible crosswalks may not always provide the most efficient navigations of the streets, since they take a long time to change.
“I understand the benefit to people with disabilities,” he said. “My only complaint is how long it is. It’s a little bit of a nuisance so you have to adjust your schedule to it if you’re on your way to class.”
Although the audible crosswalks take a longer time to change than ordinary crosswalks, he said he thinks they are a good idea.
“I believe it will actually help people with disabilities,” Bucci said.
The new crosswalk signal includes what is considered the most up-to-date technology that helps visually impaired pedestrians, Galipo said.
“I believe this is the latest and greatest,” he said.
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