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Councilman Greg Stanton's
Arcadia News
February 2005
Making Phoenix a great city for pedestrians
For Phoenix to truly be a great city, it must be a pedestrian-friendly city. Walking improves health, saves energy, cuts stress and can even spur business. From Arcadia to downtown and all around Phoenix , we are making great strides.
As a member of the City Council Public Safety subcommittee, making Phoenix safer for pedestrians has always been a priority for me. Working with the Street Transportation Department, we have made improvements to intersections and roadways to help create safer pedestrian crossings.
We have achieved funding for an underbridge to connect the Esplanade to the Biltmore Fashion Park . That will give shoppers, diners and all pedestrians a safe option for crossing Camelback Road . Construction starts later this year.
You may have noticed some recent improvements in the Camelback Corridor, between 24 th and 28 th streets. Signs telling pedestrians not to cross except at crosswalks are posted. We also have installed countdown signals to let pedestrians know how long they have to cross and reduced the posted speed limit to 35 mph between 24th and 28th Streets. A federal grant will pay for pedestrian improvements at 24 th Street and Camelback, including shaded waiting areas for pedestrians and other changes that better mark the road and intersection.
Our Street Transportation Department school safety team is a national model for making walks to school safer. They work with schools and parents to plan out the safest walking routes and improve student pick-up and drop-off procedures, train hundreds of school crossing guards every year and mark International Walk to School Day with events in different parts of the city.
Groups like the Biltmore Area Partnership have played a key role in teaming up with us to help guide these improvements for the community.
Police are also helping with this safety effort, encouraging people to cross only at crosswalks.
“We have increased enforcement, paying particular attention to pedestrians who are violating the law by not crossing at the crosswalk,” said veteran Phoenix Police Officer Terry Sills. “We are writing tickets. It’s an aggressive campaign.”
Right now, the Police are concentrating on the Biltmore area because of the high number of pedestrians crossing mid-block, through heavy traffic.
Our new Phoenix Pedestrian Task Force is a key to the educational effort. I am chairing the group and working with residents, businesses, community leaders, school administrators, police and transportation experts. Our goals are to make more positive changes citywide and to educate the public about pedestrian safety.
“We teach our children to look left, right, left,” said Officer Sills. “Now it’s time for adults to do the same thing.”
Road improvements, public education, teamwork and strong leadership are all helping Phoenix achieve a more pedestrian-friendly environment. Let’s all work together to make walks through Arcadia and elsewhere a wonderful, relaxing, safe Arizona pleasure.
If you have questions or concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety, you can call the city’s police Traffic Safety Hotline at 602-534-SPEED (7733).
Phoenix City Councilman Greg Stanton represents District 6, which includes Arcadia . If you have any questions about any issues, please feel free to call Councilman Stanton’s office at 602-262-7491, e-mail greg.stanton@phoenix.gov or visit phoenix.gov/DISTRICT6.
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