Letter to the Editor: Not Another Lonely Traffic Island

As a pedestrian advocate, I welcomed the news from journalist Adam Bednar in Towson Patch on Nov 18, 2013, that Councilman Marks successfully obtained funding to construct a traffic island, sidewalk and pedestrian ramp in Rodgers Forge at Stanmore Road and Stevenson Lane. Councilman Marks works a great deal in our county for residents in a range of ways, and I have appreciation for all he does.

But the plan, as described in the Towson Patch piece, has me concerned. That location needs traffic calming, not another lonely pedestrian island in the middle of a busy two-lane road. The proposed island would be situated in a high-density residential neighborhood containing: two schools and fields, a busy Recreation Council with sports almost year round, apartment buildings and rowhomes.

A traffic island merely increases opportunities for drivers to speed and ignore pedestrians stranded on the island in the center of the road. The traffic island located on Stevenson Lane just down the street is proof of this misguided approach.

I recall a conversation with a middle school student with a broken foot I encountered a few weeks ago; he was trying to cross Stevenson Lane at this location. When I asked him if cars stopped for him as he tried to cross the street, he replied, “Only sometimes.” I don’t think having him hobble quickly to a traffic island, as cars whiz, by would make him much safer.

What is needed at that intersection is not a symbolic solution, but up-to-date traffic calming construction, to show to residents, the school and sports community, that, as we walk, our safety matters more than automobiles speeding by.

Pedestrians have the right of way in our state if, and only if, the crossings along the streets are marked with lines. Traffic islands jutting out from both sides of the street, bright lines, adequate signage from a distance in both directions, and more, are what's needed at Stevenson Lane and Stanmore.  To do this? Just look around the corner on Osler Drive at Towson University near the Fine Arts Building.

Another lonely traffic island just won't help that middle school student with the broken foot cross the road safely at the end of his school day.

Sincerely,

Diane Wittner, Rodgers Forge resident