Greenburgh To Put Pedestrian Crossing Lights On Central Avenue

GREENBURGH, NY — A accident in which a child was hit crossing Central Avenue near the Church of the Sacred Heart in Hartsdale spurred the town of Greenburgh to lobby the state Department of Transportation to install a pedestrian signal light.

Supervisor Paul Feiner said that Councilman Francis Sheehan, who is a member of Sacred Heart, organized a petition in 2019 that gathered 2,000 names encouraging the state to authorize the HAWK light — or High-intensity Activated crossWalK signal.

The light will soon be operational, Feiner said.

Sheehan provided an explanation of how the light works at a recent Town Board meeting.

The state initially said it would provide a yellow flashing beacon, he said, which to some people means “speed up before it turns red.”

Sheehan said the town took the position of not having any light at the location was better if the only option was going to be a flashing yellow light.

He said the HAWK traffic light has no green light. The advantage to having it is that the arm extends over the traffic on Central Avenue.

If no one pushes the button to cross the street, the signal goes totally dark, Sheehan.

When the button is pushed, pedestrians see standard crossing-the-street signage, including a red hand which means wait and do not cross, the figure of a person crossing the street which means to start crossing and a countdown to finish crossing.

However, Sheehan explained, the drivers will see no lights when no one has pushed the crosswalk button, a flashing yellow light when someone has pressed the crosswalk button, a solid yellow light just before the pedestrians will be given the signal to cross the street and two solid red lights when someone is in the crosswalk.

He said the drivers will see flashing red lights toward the end of the time period when the window for pedestrians to cross the street is almost over. The lights will turn off completely when it is no longer safe for pedestrians, but traffic can proceed.

He said there will be handouts given to the community to educate them on how the traffic signal works.

Watch Sheehan’s presentation on the HAWK light here.