Some of the most elegant solutions in public management are also simple.
Avon has done significant work to improve streetscapes, and pedestrian friendliness in recent years with significant public outreach and extended planning exercises, including a paint it, and live it before you build it experimental approach to planning. Years of planning and outreach resulted in dedicated bike lanes, shortening crossing distances with landscape nodes, and other classic streetscape improvements, but Avon Road, the “main drag” which connects I-70 and the North side of town with Highway 6 and Beaver Creek proved a challenge that confounded engineers as well as pedestrians. The 5 round-a-bouts were a prior innovation that revolutionized vehicle circulation. They also continued to be a challenge for pedestrians, especially when vehicles were driven by visitors who were unfamiliar with the Colorado law and norm of yielding to pedestrians when they appear to want to cross.
Avon’s “Be Seen” program provided something street crossers could grab on to—literally—a large orange flag located in buckets on either side of the crossing-point with instructions. This changed the dynamic from passive pedestrians waiting to be noticed.
Chico Thuon, the Avon Councilman who suggested the idea said, “I felt it was a bit of a racetrack for locals and people to ignore the brick crosswalks,” he noted, “the flag really gets the drivers attention and sends the message that pedestrians are present.” He hopes the next generation of flags will have reflective material so they will show better at night. Mayor Smith Hymes also suggested the idea after seeing examples in Jackson Hole. Collectively, their persistence led to Council direction to Avon staff to install the crossing flags.
The solution reminds me of the days of student crossing guards to my elementary school, trained kids who took pride, got up extra early to take the extra responsibility. They would initiate a short street closure with their bright jackets and flags to usher kids across the streets before and after school. Avon’s “Be Seen” program puts a modern, self-empowered spin on the crossing guard.
Problems? Town Manager, Eric Heil said Avon staff were skeptical at first and thought that the flags would quickly “walk off;” however, Heil said “generally it is working fine as a low-cost solution,” although he also noted that after a contentious Town Council meeting this summer one of the buckets of flags ended up in the Eagle River. Avon staff decided against flags with logos which might be considered souvenirs. Avon also added mid-lane “Yield to Pedestrian” signs which has helped slow traffic and remind motorists to look for pedestrians. For reference, the wired pedestrian crossing signs that are button operated with flashing lights run just under $20,000 each depending on how close they are to electricity. They are still the gold standard for a crossing that is not at a signaled intersection. On the other hand, Heil estimates that flags and a bucket cost about $25 at each location.
(Photo Credit of Kids crossing, Avon Mayor Sarah Smith Hymes)