Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System
Before: The skewed intersection results in longer crossing distances for pedestrians and facilitates higher speed turning movements by vehicles. After: Correcting skewed intersections provides safer crossing conditions for pedestrians of all abilities.
Strategies for improving pedestrian safety at existing skewed intersection crossings include providing high visibility marked crosswalks and adding medians or channelization islands to reduce crossing distance. In some cases, it may be possible to reconfigure the intersection by straightening the skewed approach thereby reducing the speed of turning vehicles by creating a tighter turning radius, and reducing the crossing distance for pedestrians. Intersection guide strips for pedestrians with restricted vision may also be considered in some situations. Moving crosswalks back from the intersection to shorten crossing distances is generally not a preferred strategy because it is counter to pedestrian or motorist expectations, and it can create problems for visually impaired pedestrians.
When skewed intersections are unavoidable, the intersection should be designed so that the angle between intersecting streets is as close to 90 degrees as possible. In addition, if major alterations are being done to an existing skewed intersection, transportation agencies should consider whether it is possible to reconfigure the intersection so that the crossings are more perpendicular.
