FHWA and PBIC Announce Free Webinar on Raised Median Islands and Pedestrian Safety
News Brief
May 17, 2012
CHAPEL HILL , NC—The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) announce a free webinar on raised median islands:
Raised Median Islands and Pedestrian Safety
Wednesday, May 30
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. E.D.T.
To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/669806362.
Crossing the street – especially at locations with multiple lanes – can be a complex task for many pedestrians. Raised median islands and pedestrian refuge areas provide proven solution to these crossings at both midblock and intersection locations.
This webinar will discuss design considerations for raised median islands, discuss barriers to implementing these countermeasures, and present case studies of agencies that have been using these treatments to improve pedestrian safety.
Charlie Zegeer, of the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, will present design considerations for raised median islands and discuss research findings related to their effectiveness in improving pedestrian safety. Sheila Lyons, of the Oregon Department of Transportation, will discuss how the agency has installed dozens of median islands to assist pedestrians and bicyclists across state and local roadways. Gary Sokolow, of the Florida Department of Transportation, will present the history of Florida’s Restrictive Median Policy, which has been implemented since the early 1990s and requires essentially all new multilane arterials to include median islands. Finally, Jack Ecklund, of the City of University Place in Washington, will provide a local perspective on the use of raised median islands and their benefits.
The presenters will also participate in a question and answer session to discuss how to address barriers to median implementation, and answer questions from the attendees. Representatives from state and local agencies will learn about the benefits of raised median islands, as well as key considerations for their application in a variety of settings.
This webinar is one of the free webinars that FHWA offers quarterly as part of its Pedestrian Safety Focus States and Cities initiatives. FHWA's Safety Office is trying to aggressively reduce pedestrian deaths by focusing extra resources on the states and cities with the highest pedestrian fatalities and/or fatality rates. Webinar archives for this series, as well as listings of upcoming sessions, can be found at http://www.walkinginfo.org/training/pbic/pedfocus_webinars.cfm.
PBIC offers free, public Webinars approximately every other month. To register for upcoming Webinars and to access archived presentations, please visit www.walkinginfo.org/webinars.
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