Batavia Route 31 crossing may get pedestrian signal back
The saga of safely crossing Batavia Avenue (Route 31) in Batavia has taken another turn.
The Federal Highway Administration has decided to again let towns use rectangular rapid flashing beacons at crossings, after rescinding permission in December.
So Batavia is applying to the state transportation department for permission to put RRFBs back up at the McKee Street crossing on the state route. A truck had knocked down one of them Feb. 4, and when Batavia applied for permission to replace it with a spare, it learned of the federal ban.
An RRFB is a pedestrian-activated yellow signal that warns drivers a pedestrian is trying to cross the four-lane road, and that they should be prepared to stop.
It was installed at McKee Street because a city-designated bicycle route encourages people to ride on McKee, cross Batavia Avenue, ride south on a sidewalk to Houston Street then east on Houston to the Fox River Trail.
Aldermen Tuesday gave public works director Gary Holm permission to apply for the permit.
They also gave him permission to start asking IDOT for permission to improve the signal system by installing a warning light 200 feet in advance of the intersection, and an overhead signal over both lanes of traffic. It would improve visibility for drivers in the inside lane, who now can't see the RRFB if another vehicle has already stopped in the curbside lane.
Several aldermen said the city should wait to install the RRFB until it knows whether IDOT will give permission for the improvements. Without them, they think the RRFB is too unsafe. Police Chief Dan Eul said in the five years before the RRFB was installed, there were no pedestrian accidents reported to police at McKee. It was installed in 2015, and there have been three accidents since. Eul and some aldermen think the RRFB gives pedestrians there a false sense of security.
Holm also told alderman their hopes of getting a crosswalk painted at Houston have been dashed by IDOT. Officials from the state agency told him they don't want pedestrians to cross there, but to instead walk about a block south to the signalized Wilson Street intersection. That miffs Alderman Alan Wolff, who again pointed out there are unsignalized painted crosswalks across a four-lane state route in downtown Geneva. They are five, including two that are within a block of a signal, on State Street (Route 38).