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Pedestrian Beacon Crosswalk To Be Installed On Busy Fayetteville Street

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — Local business owners are excited about a new type of traffic signal that’s coming to a major street in the area. The new beac...

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- Local business owners are excited about a new type of traffic signal that's coming to a major street in the area. The new beacon cross walk will be on College Avenue between Rebecca Street and Trenton Boulevard.

This is a high-intensity activated crosswalk beacon that features lights on a pole above the crosswalk, like a traffic signal. It will work like any other pedestrian crosswalk, people wanting to cross will push a button that activates a yellow then red light, alerting drivers to stop.

The Arkansas Highway Department put College Avenue to the test to see how many people actually crossed the road in this area. The Highway Department requires 20 people to cross within an hour before they even warrant a crosswalk, and College Avenue met that goal four times in one day.

Owner and Executive Chef of the Big Sexy Food Truck, Brent Hale said he appreciates the improvements the city is making in the area. "We do get a fair amount of walkers and really since they've redone the sidewalks I've noticed it more," Hale said. "So I think it will help with folks that do tend to walk from those local businesses and really regardless of wherever they're coming from."

According to the Federal Highway Administration, where these beacon crosswalks have already been installed, pedestrian crashes have been reduced up to 69 percentand total roadway crashes reduced up to 29 percent.

There are three other beacon crosswalks like this in Fayetteville on 15th Street, South School Avenue and Razorback Road. The crosswalk will be ready in late Spring or Summer of 2017.

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