Downtown All-Way Crossing Update Meeting on January 19
Intersection of Locust Street and Hickory Street.
City of Denton staff are hosting a virtual public update meeting on Thursday, January 19 at 6 PM regarding upcoming construction on all-way crossings in downtown Denton. Construction will begin on Monday, January 23, if weather permits.
The four intersections surrounding the square already operate as all-way crossings with a dedicated pedestrian-only phase that allows crossing in all directions at the same time while all directions of vehicular traffic have a red light and are restricted from turning.
All-way crossing concept image from Discuss Denton’s All-Way Crossings webpage.
The upcoming project will install necessary ramps and markings to clarify that pedestrians may cross the intersection diagonally and to provide accessibility for people with wheelchairs or strollers to easily complete the diagonal crossing.
The all-way crossing project was proposed and piloted in 2019 as a means of improving pedestrian safety in the downtown area. Downtown Denton has a high rate of drivers striking people who are moving around downtown outside of an automobile.
Heat map of crashes in Denton involving a pedestrian or bicyclist, 2019-2022. (From: Pedestrian and Pedalcyclist Crash Statistics and Review, 12/16/2022)
Vehicle-pedestrian collisions can be reduced in a number of ways, depending on whether the priority for an area is the people spending time there or the people driving past it. Options include eliminating or limiting vehicular access to certain spaces or streets, slowing driving speeds or reducing conflicts by providing separate crossing phases at intersections for people in vehicles and people outside of vehicles, like the all-way crossing.
The all-way crossing project will cost approximately $900,000, funded through DCTA’s Transportation Reinvestment Program (TRiP). TRiP is a five-year program that returns a portion of sales tax dollars to DCTA’s three member cities at the end of each year for pedestrian and bicycle projects near DCTA services.
For more information about the all-way crossing project, visit the All-Way Crossings page on the Discuss Denton website.
