Harrisburg City Council advanced a $2.2 million push to overhaul pedestrian safety along Front Street on Tuesday night, responding directly to a fatal accident in August when a woman was killed by a car in a marked crosswalk, alongside a recent incident where a blind man was injured while crossing the street.
The council’s decision includes two separate grant applications submitted through PennDOT’s Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant Program. Should PennDOT greenlight the primary application, the $2 million would be directed toward building a roundabout at the intersection of Division and Front streets, along with moving and improving crosswalks and upgrading ramps. A second application asks for $200,000 to fund a traffic light at Front and Vaughn streets.
City Officials Seek Grants to Fund Upgrades
City officials emphasized that the wide-ranging upgrades cannot be handled by municipal funds alone. These are all things that, when we’re talking about over 50 different crosswalks and intersections, add up very quickly dollar-wise. And this is something that we can’t just fund ourselves. So this is why we need to go out and get a grant for all of that,
Harrisburg Grants Director Antonio Megna said.
Regarding the proposed traffic signal at Front and Vaughn streets, Rodrigues noted, The trail infrastructure exists and installing a full fledged traffic light on Front and Vaughn would be incredibly beneficial to the city.
Proposed Street Modifications
To help make Front Street safer under the proposed modifications, certain crosswalks would be shifted from the south side of intersections to the north side to minimize friction between pedestrians and turning vehicles. The plans also include repainting crosswalks and updating lighting and signage.
The approvals by the Harrisburg City Council come as the city is also seeking complete ownership of Front Street from PennDOT.
