Crosswalks in the Crosshairs: Resident Pushes for Repainting

Lincoln Park resident Michelle Rose Marcus has been trying for two years to put a pair of deteriorating pedestrian crossings on local officials' radar.

Although she has hit speed bumps communicating with those in 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith's office, officials say some pedestrian crossings around the area in question will be getting face-lifts. 

Marcus' concerns stem specifically from nearly invisible lines at Stockton and Armitage bus stops. A volunteer at the adjacent Lincoln Park Zoo, she sees people nearly get hit on a regular basis while crossing Stockton Drive near Armitage Avenue.

"I can’t tell you how many near misses I’ve seen," she said. "And how many people park in the crosswalk. I saw a guy parking there last year and told him that he was blocking the crosswalk. He said, 'You can’t see the crosswalk' and that if he got a ticket he would just show the judge a picture of the almost invisible crosswalk."

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Pedestrian accidents in the area have happened before. The Chicago City Council approved a $3.25 million settlement in the summer of 2012 for the family of Maya Hirsch, a 4-year-old who was killed six years earlier by a hit-and-run driver in the Belden Avenue and Lincoln Park West intersection.

Maya, her mother and brother were leaving the zoo when they were all struck, "possibly due to poorly placed signs and faded crosswalks," GridChicago reports.

The story says:

"Two days after the crash the city repainted the faded crosswalk lines at the site and installed new traffic signs, including oversized stop signs. City records show that one year later the intersection was reconfigured with curb bump-outs that shortened the pedestrian crossing distance by several feet, and slightly raised crosswalks that make the striping more visible."

Citing such incidents, Marcus first began sending e-mails to Smith's office in 2011, she said.

The alderman's chief of staff, Libby Prakel, responded Tuesday to Patch's questions concerning crosswalks on Stockton Drive slightly east of where Clark Street and Armitage Avenue meet. She pointed to an area further north that will soon be repainted.

She said Smith's office has ordered a "complete redesign" of a crosswalk on Stockton Drive near Belden Avenue. Set to be completed this summer, it includes curb extensions and ramps compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act; a repainted crosswalk with oncoming stop bars painted in each lane; six new pedestrian warning signs; and the word "SLOW" 195 feet north and 175 feet south of the walk.

"At the intersection of Menomonee and Clark, there will be a pedestrian island to protect pedestrians going in and out of Lincoln Park," Prakel added.

There was no mention of other crosswalks along Stockton, or the ones Marcus—and her colleagues—wants to see fixed. Smith has not returned Patch's phone calls.

Marcus says she's particularly concerned about bus riders crossing the streets. The nearby routes transport everyone from those commuting to work to people visiting the zoo and in the summertime, North Avenue Beach.

Chicago Transit Authority spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski broke down average daily ridership numbers for a few popular routes along Armitage Avenue and Stockton Drives:

Bus No. 73 at Clark Street and Armitage Avenue

• Westbound: 211 people boarding and six getting off. 
• Eastbound: 7 people boarding and 245 hopping off.

Bus No. 151 and 156 at Fullerton Parkway and Stockton Drive

• Northbound: 59 boarding and 291 alighting.
• Southbound: 274 boarding and 53 alighting.

Other nearby routes include Stockton and Webster, where southbound drivers see 396 boarding and 86 alighting. Northbound ridership is slightly lower—80 boardings and 267 alighting.

Move slightly north and ridership drops substantially. The bus stop at Lincoln, Armitage and Sedgwick sees just 70 boarders and 94 alighting on the north side and 142 boardings and 64 alighting on the south.

"Generally, the larger the intersections, the greater number of boardings," Hosinski said. "It can be different around tourist spots but generally, the larger the cross street, the more riders you'll see. At Armitage and Sheffield, for example, is where you're going to see a huge jump … it's those arterial streets."

While repainting the Stockton and Belden crosswalk is a step in the right direction, Marcus would like to see more of a focus on other nearby crosswalks to the south.

"They all need to be repainted there's no question about it," she said. " …  I’ve asked the alderman’s office if it will take another child being killed by a motorist for them to do something. They didn’t like that question …"

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