High Visibility Pedestrian Flags Installed Downtown Paris

Pedestrian flags are intended to assist pedestrians in gaining the attention of motorists and adding visibility to the pedestrian crossing the street in marked crosswalks. City officials said, “These flags are not intended as a substitute for the vigilance and safe crossing techniques that pedestrians must use for crossing any street.”

The flags have been installed at crosswalks in a wide area around the courtsquare, including Brewer, Poplar, Blythe, Washington Steets.

The pedestrian safety problem has become a key issue following the recent death of Commercial Bank & Trust employee Kathy Sadler, who had been crossing the street on the way to work. Over the years, numerous other people have been hit by cars crossing the street, mainly around the court square.

The pedestrian flags concept has been spelled out for the public at both the last city of Paris commission meeting and at a public input session on Monday.

As has been reported previously, there are other measures planned to address the problem.

Grant projects are in the works and proposed improvements include new signal controllers, new signal heads, vehicle detection devices, pedestrian safety counter-measures, curb extensions, ADA ramps at intersections, high visibility crosswalks, and push-buttons at crosswalks that include count down timers with audible components telling pedestrians when it is safe to cross.

At Monday’s public input session, Foster noted that the city already has placed barriers to keep cars from being parked too near the crosswalks. That is intended to reduce obstructions to seeing cars coming through intersections. She said even though many feel that is a positive for the city, officials have already received complaints from people upset at having fewer parking places on the court square.

It was reported at Monday’s session that the city would begin installing the red flags at crosswalks this week. The red flags are to be used by pedestrians when they are crossing the street to catch the attention of drivers. “Pedestrians have the right of way but they can’t win the battle with cars,” she said.

City of Paris photo.