Pedestrian Safety

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- The Waynesboro Borough Council wants to improve pedestrian safety at the intersection of East Main Street, Mickley Avenue and East Second Street, although the project continues to get costlier. Council members agreed Wednesday they want to create a four-way stop for traffic if pedestrians press a crossing button. Councilman Ronnie Martin, street committee chairman, said an estimated $1,300 will be needed to change the traffic signal's controller. On top of that, Martin said he's been told the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wants to require a traffic study that would cost about $2,000.

Motorists will be detoured around Martinsburg's town square for about three weeks beginning Thursday as work continues on pedestrian safety improvements there. Depending on weather conditions for construction, the closure of the intersection of King and Queen streets will remain in effect around the clock until Aug. 22, the state Division of Highways announced Monday. Motorists traveling on W.Va. 9 in downtown Martinsburg will be advised to follow a detour onto Wilson, Raleigh and Race streets.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A Waynesboro resident stood before the borough council two days after a pedestrian was struck on West Main Street and asked for a "more forceful police presence" in areas where more than three dozen people have been struck in four years. Amos Miller, of West Sixth Street, referred to "this carnage that's continuing downtown with pedestrians" when addressing the council Wednesday. On Monday afternoon, Donald E. Reed, 52, of Waynesboro, was struck by a 2002 Ford Focus at the intersection with Potomac Street.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- A Waynesboro resident stood before the borough council two days after a pedestrian was struck on West Main Street and asked for a "more forceful police presence" in areas where more than three dozen people have been struck in four years. Amos Miller, of West Sixth Street, referred to "this carnage that's continuing downtown with pedestrians" when addressing the council Wednesday. On Monday afternoon, Donald E. Reed, 52, of Waynesboro, was struck by a 2002 Ford Focus at the intersection with Potomac Street.

shappell@herald-mail.com The State Highway Administration and AAA Mid-Atlantic are urging motorists to slow down this Halloween and parents to teach their children about pedestrian safety to avoid collision during trick-or-treat hours. As an extra precaution, the State Highway Administration is allowing people to borrow reflective vests, without cost, to place over children's costumes. State Highway Administration spokeswoman Adrienne Cousler said Washington County residents will be able to pick up the vests between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Wednesday through Friday, at its area site - 18320 Col. Henry K. Douglas Drive, near Interstate 70 and Md. 65. "We ask that, since they're borrowed out, people bring them back in a timely manner," Cousler said.

Martinsburg’s town square could have a new “green” look by Halloween. The redesign of the town center at King and Queen streets is projected to be completed by the end of October, according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation’s advertisement for the project. Contractors’ bids for the work are scheduled to be opened by the state agency on April 20, transportation department spokesman Brent Walker said Tuesday. The project is part of the city’s downtown plan, which was adopted in 2004.

Police in Washington County are using a $5,000 state grant to crack down on people who break laws designed to keep pedestrians safe. The Washington County Health Department awarded the state money as part of a community traffic safety program that's been in place for more than a decade, said Andrea Harris, program manager for prevention services. A number of high-profile pedestrian highway deaths in Montgomery County drew the state's attention to the problem. When Harris looked at the problem locally, she found that pedestrian safety was a problem in Washington County, too. "It started as a state initiative, but we did note that we had a problem, enough of a problem to warrant attention," Harris said.

Supervisors review 50-acre development WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The Washington Township Supervisors on Wednesday got their first look at a 50-acre development proposed off Washington Township Boulevard. Two hundred and eighteen homes have been shown on plans for the Sam Martin tract near the Martin's Ridge development. Representatives of the developer said they have tried to incorporate walking paths and open space, while creating a village-type community adjacent to an 11-acre commercial tract.

The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday showed favor to a public awareness campaign that the city's engineer said will be designed to improve pedestrian safety. The program presented by City Engineer Rodney A. Tissue includes new signs, handicapped ramps, pedestrian lights and educational information. It also would continue efforts with the Hagerstown Police Department to enforce crosswalk laws, Tissue said. "We believe we need to do a little more to make motorists aware of the laws," Tissue said.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- A schematic design to improve pedestrian safety in Martinsburg's town square proposes that the city center at King and Queen streets be more "green. " The Martinsburg City Council, convened as a committee on Wednesday, unanimously recommended a new design for town square that proposes tree-lined lawns on either side of East King Street in the 100 block. Councilman At-Large Gregg Wachtel was absent. The council is expected to vote on the consensus they reached on the design next week.

As Irene Giffin was crossing Leitersburg Pike's northbound lanes in her motorized wheelchair in a crosswalk, vehicles coming out of a shopping center would pass in front of or behind her, the Hagerstown resident said. “At one time, it was so close to me I could touch the car and it scared the living bejeebers out of me,” said Giffin, who uses a red flag that flies 3 feet to 4 feet above her wheelchair when she is in traffic situations. Giffin said she thought at first she made a mistake or the traffic signals' synchronization was mixed up. But each time the electronic pedestrian sign gave her the go ahead to cross, the traffic signal turned green for traffic leaving both Long Meadow Shopping Center and Stone House Square.

Two Maryland state agencies are joining forces to make Halloween safe this year for little ghosts and goblins. For the 18th year, the Maryland State Highway Administration is offering its Vests for Visibility Program, which lends reflective vests to children and their chaperones during trick-or-treat. “The Maryland State Highway Administration's message is always see and be seen,” SHA spokeswoman Lora Rakowski said. “Thousands of little feet will be converging on the street at the same time at rush hour (this Halloween)

Motorists are expected to be detoured around Martinsburg's town square for five to seven days beginning Oct. 5 so crews can reconfigure and replace brick pavers installed this summer as part of a pedestrian safety improvement project. The intersection of West King and Queen streets will be closed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the West Virginia Division of Highways announced Tuesday. Access to all businesses will be maintained, but motorists traveling through Martinsburg on W.Va.

A consultant has estimated that construction of the first phases of a pedestrian safety project along one of the busiest roads in the Martinsburg area will cost more than $580,000. The cost estimate for the project along the south side of Edwin Miller Boulevard between the CVS pharmacy and the West Virginia State Police barrack for the Martinsburg detachment was released Thursday. "What we need to do (now) is to find matching funds which ... is really, really difficult," said Kathy Mason, the business programs manager for the Berkeley County Development Authority.

Motorists will be detoured around Martinsburg's town square for about three weeks beginning Thursday as work continues on pedestrian safety improvements there. Depending on weather conditions for construction, the closure of the intersection of King and Queen streets will remain in effect around the clock until Aug. 22, the state Division of Highways announced Monday. Motorists traveling on W.Va. 9 in downtown Martinsburg will be advised to follow a detour onto Wilson, Raleigh and Race streets.

Martinsburg’s town square could have a new “green” look by Halloween. The redesign of the town center at King and Queen streets is projected to be completed by the end of October, according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation’s advertisement for the project. Contractors’ bids for the work are scheduled to be opened by the state agency on April 20, transportation department spokesman Brent Walker said Tuesday. The project is part of the city’s downtown plan, which was adopted in 2004.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- A schematic design to improve pedestrian safety in Martinsburg's town square proposes that the city center at King and Queen streets be more "green. " The Martinsburg City Council, convened as a committee on Wednesday, unanimously recommended a new design for town square that proposes tree-lined lawns on either side of East King Street in the 100 block. Councilman At-Large Gregg Wachtel was absent. The council is expected to vote on the consensus they reached on the design next week.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- The Borough of Waynesboro is receiving some unexpected help in improving pedestrian safety. Flashing strobe lights will be installed at three downtown crosswalks thanks to behind-the-scenes work of Dave Rock and Stuart Honodel, employees of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 8. The lights and their installation come at no cost to the borough. "They felt it was important to have them in town because of the rash of incidents we had," Borough Engineer Kevin Grubbs said in making the announcement.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Waynesboro Area Senior High School faculty and administrators met Sunday afternoon to discuss the school's response to a pedestrian accident that occurred Friday as students walked home, the school district superintendent said. A high school senior suffered serious injuries when a car drove over her in that accident at the intersection of East Second Street and Myrtle Avenue. Schools Superintendent James Robertson said Sunday afternoon the last update he received was that the girl remained in the intensive care unit at Hershey (Pa.)

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- The Waynesboro Borough Council wants to improve pedestrian safety at the intersection of East Main Street, Mickley Avenue and East Second Street, although the project continues to get costlier. Council members agreed Wednesday they want to create a four-way stop for traffic if pedestrians press a crossing button. Councilman Ronnie Martin, street committee chairman, said an estimated $1,300 will be needed to change the traffic signal's controller. On top of that, Martin said he's been told the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wants to require a traffic study that would cost about $2,000.