Countdown Timer Project to Ensure Pedestrian Safety in Iowa City

Project Summary

In 2004, Coalition members and other Iowa City residents expressed a multitude of concerns pertaining to the intersection of Burlington and Dubuque streets. This is a popular intersection for providing access to the pedestrian mall, work, the library, shopping, and homes. The problem is, many in the community feel they lack sufficient time to cross Burlington Street at this intersection. This semester, we confronted the issue. First, we documented people's concerns through a written survey and field study at the intersection. The results of the survey confirmed that people believed they had insufficient time to cross and feared for their safety when crossing at this intersection. Another common problem reported was that drivers are too aggressive at the intersection and do not respect pedestrians' right to cross, even when they have a green light.

Based on the collected data, we brainstormed solutions and invited Johnson County's Traffic and Engineer Planner, Anissa Williams, to attend a Coalition meeting and address our concerns.Anissa provided us with information about the intersection and told us what her office does. We recommended increasing the pedestrian interval, installing a "no turn on red sign" on Dubuque Street, delaying the green signal for traffic departing from the Sheraton, and adding a countdown timer to the intersection and an audible device to assist pedestrians who are vision-impaired to judge the amount of time they have to cross.