The news just broke that the City of Poughkeepsie is getting $2.4M in grants to upgrade 32 pedestrian crossings to help pedestrians and bicyclists get around safely.
According to a news report, the efforts will focus on intersections and crosswalks where they have the most pedestrian traffic and where accidents have occurred in the past, upgrading signage, pedestrian timers, pushbuttons and painting high-visibility crosswalk striping.
As personal injury attorneys who serve Poughkeepsie, Kingston and the surrounding Hudson Valley, we’ve represented many pedestrians and bicyclists in the region who were injured by a vehicle. There can be many expenses that occur after a pedestrian or bicyclist is injured in an accident, and we push back against insurance companies that try to keep our clients from being properly compensated. We have offices in Poughkeepsie and Kingston; call 845-600-0000 for a free consultation.
As we wrote recently, it can sometimes be proven that roadway conditions and design contributed to these accidents occurring. Here are some of the points we made:
- Pedestrians have a right to properly maintained sidewalks and crosswalks
- Infrastructure always has gaps and mistakes
- Roadways have common design flaws
- Municipalities have common issues maintaining roadways
- Sidewalk and crosswalk defects can even cause solo accidents for pedestrians and bicyclists
Provided that the crosswalk upgrades are designed to meet the highest standards and are implemented properly, they could decrease the chances of a tragic accident occurring. Here are the thirty-two intersections that will be affected, and how they currently look according to Google Street View:
1. Market at County Office Building (mid-block crosswalk)
2. Main and Market St
3. Market (Civic Center Plaza) at Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel (mid-block crosswalk)
4. Main and Academy/Catharine St
5. Main and N&S Hamilton St
6. Main and Garden/Liberty St (mid-block crosswalk)
7. Main and Crannell St (mid-block crosswalk)
8. Main and N&S Clinton St
9. Main and N&S Cherry St
10. Mansion and Civic Center Plaza (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
11. Mansion and Catharine (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
12. Main and Innis/Worrall
13. Main and Corlies Ave
14. Main at Train Station Pavilion (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
15. Main and Church/Fountain
Did you know that earlier this year, we published a deep dive on the most popular places in the Hudson Valley for pedestrians to walk?
16. Main and Davies Pl (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
17. Main and N&S White St
18. Main and N Water St/Housing driveway (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
19. Main and N&S Clover St
20. Main at John Flowers Circle (mid-block crosswalk)
21. Main and N&S Bridge St
22. Main and Vassar St (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
23. Main and Rinaldi Blvd/ Train Station Entrance
24. Mansion and Hamilton St (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
25. Mansion and Clinton St (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
26. Main and N&S Perry St
27. Mansion and Conklin
28. Mansion and Balding Ave (uncontrolled intersection crosswalk)
29. Mansion and Smith
30. Mansion and Washington/Columbus
31. Mansion and Garden
32. Market and Cannon
The complete map of intersection improvements can be found here.