Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
No place to walk in many places in Chester County
There is a lack of crosswalks and pedestrian walkways along many roadways in rural Chester County.
The second that car door opens and our feet hit the asphalt, we all become pedestrians.
Newlin Township resident John O’Neal has noticed a lack of crosswalks and pedestrian walkways along many roadways in rural Chester County.
Yet, thankfully, the number of pedestrian deaths and non-fatal crashes is decreasing.
There were two pedestrian fatalities in the county during 2017, which was down from four in 2016, according to PennDot spokesperson Robyn Briggs.
Fatal pedestrian crashes in 2016 statewide numbered 172, and in 2017 that number was 150.
Statewide, there were 4,086 pedestrian non-fatalities in 2017 and 4,201 non-fatal pedestrian crashes statewide.
“We don’t see shoulders very often in Newlin Township,” O’Neal said. “The primary problem is the old roads.”
Over the years the state has taken responsibility for many of the old, narrow roads.
O’Neal and I motored around on a recent Saturday morning. We traveled several state and local roads in the Marshallton Area and saw very few roads with shoulders.
Walkers are forced to trek in the travel lane and O’Neal has a theory or two about why.
“The lack of shoulder forces a pedestrian to walk on the pavement,” O’Neal said. “The number of places where PennDOT and local authorities don’t even have room to paint the fog line on the pavement is staggering.
“In large part this is because the road agencies do not do any shoulder maintenance. Snow grit is put on the roadways year after year and builds up allowing vegetation to grow over the pavement.
“It needs to be removed on a regular basis.”
O’Neal noted that vehicles should yield the right of way to pedestrians in marked or unmarked crosswalks at non-controlled intersections.
You learn something every day, but you won’t likely see me in the future immediately crossing at a four-stop intersection. The key phrase here is “should yield.”
State supplied literature notes that there is no strict definition for “jaywalking.”
Jaywalking is determined as a pedestrian violation such as walking against signals or outside crosswalks.
I asked PennDot’s Deputy Communications Director Brad Rudolph if pedestrian crossings and road shoulders make it safer for pedestrians. And how much safer?
“Marked and signed pedestrian crossings do provide a safer environment for pedestrians overall,” he said. “Shoulders, while not specifically intended for pedestrian use, do provide an area for pedestrians to walk along a highway outside of the cartway and thus separated from the area where vehicles are traveling.
“Marked crosswalks are regulated by the motor vehicle code, wherein vehicles are required to stop/ yield to a pedestrian in the marked crosswalk. They further provide an indicator to the motorist that