It should come as no surprise that 7000 South is one of the most-traveled roadways by motorists in the city. That traffic has also made a highly used crosswalk at about 1960 West one in need of safety improvement. The city council has taken a step to accomplish just that.

The council unanimously approved installation of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at the crosswalk. The beacons should be installed in the next 60 to 90 days.

Bill Baronowski, the city’s traffic engineer, told the council the crosswalk is located at a ‘T’ intersection, and was upgraded with orange crosswalk flags a few years ago. Last year, traffic counts showed between 22,000 and 26,000 vehicles per day pass through the crosswalk area, where the posted speed is 35 miles per hour. 

He presented five options to the council for helping with safety at that intersection. One was to eliminate the crosswalk completely, forcing those wishing to cross 7000 South to use crosswalks at either Redwood Road or 2200 West. A second option was to enhance the existing painting of the crosswalk, and add advance warning bars to the roadway for approaching motorists.

Another option was installation of a HAWK Hybrid Pedestrian Crosswalk Beacon, similar to one used in front of Gardner Village for access to and from the TRAX station. But the cost of a HAWK light ($90,000) and the fact that pedestrian traffic at the intersection was below the required 20 per hour, worked against that proposal. Council agreed that the RRFB was the best option. A conventional pedestrian signal was also presented, but considered unwarranted due to the estimated pedestrian usage of the crosswalk.

The LED lights emit rapid flashing (wig-wag) lights to drivers to alert them of the presence of pedestrians in the crosswalk, Baranowski explained. These lights already exist along 2700 West at the TRAX station at 8350 South, at West Jordan High School at 8120 South, and on 2200 West and 7600 South. There is also one operating near Copper Hills High School.

Cost of the RRFB is estimated at about $30,000.