AMHERST — In a Route 9 crosswalk in Hadley set between the main intersection in town center and where West Street meets the state highway, a teen was struck and seriously injured by a cargo van three years ago this month.
Operating an electric scooter in the crosswalk and activating the lights above to give flashing warnings to drivers, the boy was nevertheless struck by the right side passenger rearview mirror by a westbound van that didn’t slow down or stop. The whereabouts of that Ford Econoline vehicle remain unknown, following an extensive investigation by police.
The so-called pedestrian hybrid beacon along that busy four-lane road — one of about 40 mid-block crossings that exist across the state, including at least four in Hampshire County — often leads to confusion for motorists, according to a new report released by researchers at the University of Massachusetts.
The UMass investigators state that more awareness is necessary about the rules of the road around this crosswalk design, which is used in places where there is not a full traffic signal, according to their paper titled “Field Study of Driver Behavior by Interval at Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons.” The paper was recently published in Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
One of the main issues is the confusion over the five phases of the overhead lights, with those lights remaining dark until activated by a pedestrian, then going to flashing yellow to indicate vehicles should slow down, and followed by a solid yellow, meaning drivers should prepare to stop. After this, when the walk signal is activated for pedestrians, the overhead lights become solid red, which requires drivers to stop and yield to pedestrians and bicyclists, followed by flashing red that means drivers can proceed, but only if the crosswalk is clear.
Angelina Caggiano, lead study author and a doctoral candidate in transportation engineering at UMass, said the difficulties come when the lights are flashing red, at the end of the five-phase cycle. The report found that the majority of drivers stopped at a solid red light proceed once the flashing reds are activated.
“That’s especially problematic for rail trail or shared-use path locations, because there are going to be cyclists, runners or people traveling at faster speeds trying to catch that flashing red interval to cross the street before the walk signal ends,” Caggiano said. “Whereas cars are now rolling through, and they may not see those secondary pedestrians.”
In addition to the Route 9 crossing between Cumberland Farms and the Hadley Juvenile Court, where the teen pedestrian was hit, other pedestrian hybrid beacons are in place where the Norwottuck Rail Trail crosses South Maple Street in Hadley, behind the shopping malls, where the rail trail crosses Damon Road in Northampton near Elwell State Park, and also on Damon Road near the entrance to River Run Condominiums.
At each, signs read “Crosswalk. Stop on red. Proceed on flashing red when clear.” The idea is that these allow for a greater flow of traffic than a traditional stop light would, while also maintaining higher pedestrian visibility than similar beacon designs.
The study examines three of the crossings in Hampshire County, along with seven other sites within Massachusetts. What the researchers found is, on average, almost one in four drivers went through a solid red phase, or the equivalent of running a red light, and 65% of drivers drove through the flashing red, or the equivalent of running a stop sign.
Another issue at these crosswalks, according to the researchers, is that some drivers stop too soon, with almost one in 10 drivers stopping when the lights are dark, and almost one in five drivers coming to a stop during the flashing yellow phase. In both those phases, drivers are expected to proceed, or to proceed slowly, rather than stopping.
When there is a solid yellow light, almost one-third of drivers stop.
“That makes sense because even if we’re approaching a traffic signal, there are going to be some people that stop when that traffic signal turns yellow, anticipating that it’s going to turn red,” Caggiano said.
But this becomes problematic later in the cycle, as drivers who get to the crossing after the yellow has turned to red often don’t see any pedestrians or bicyclists at the crosswalk. This may contribute to unsafe instances of cars driving through the solid or flashing red lights, with drivers incorrectly assuming that no pedestrians are present.
On four-lane roads, like the stretch of Route 9 in Hadley, there was less premature stopping, but also lower rates of stopping during the red-light phases. The report shows that 29% of motorists drove through the solid red, and 69% of these drivers through the flashing red.
At rail trail crossings, correctly stopping at red phases was comparable to what happens at other crossings, though more vehicles stopped at those during the dark, flashing yellow and solid yellow intervals.
“The pedestrian presence is so expected by drivers that they’re more likely to yield sooner,” Caggiano said.
The researchers put out caution in how often this technology is used, especially at busier points.
“That’s really leading Angelina and myself to make a recommendation that careful consideration should be given to whether or not it’s actually the best device to use at rail trail crossings or locations where there’s a steady stream of pedestrians and cyclists,” said Michael Knodler, a professor of engineering and director of the UMass Transportation Center.
Caggiano said that most of the successful pedestrian hybrid beacons are in the Somerville and Cambridge area.
“We also observed higher levels of pedestrian compliance in these environments, so pedestrians were far more likely to push the button and wait for that walk indication, as opposed to drivers stopping for them early, and then crossing the road,” she adds.
The next stage of the researchers work is to study pedestrian behavior at these locations, in part because Knodler observes that pedestrian safety is a national priority, and these devices seem to have a lot of promise to address that.
“As these devices become more common, we expect to see behavior continue to improve at these locations,” Knodler said. “And so, given what we know are the benefits that they provide, I think that’s one reason for optimism.”