San Leandro Pedestrian Crosswalk Evaluation and Priority Criteria

In response to many requests for new marked crosswalks or enhancements to existing marked crosswalks throughout the year, city staff is establishing scoring criteria and the three-tiered approach for review and evaluation. Providing safe and efficient pedestrian facilities is a well-established goal of the city of San Leandro. In the city’s general plan and the bicycle and pedestrian master plan, there has been significant discussion that move the city toward an even safer and more convenient environment for travel as a pedestrian. Pedestrian facilities are of particular importance as we try to reduce our dependency on the automobile and provide greater support for multi-modal travel and its many benefits. With this in mind, city staff has gradually established practices that aid in the evaluation of pedestrian crossing improvements as well as having strategies in place for allocating resources on a priority basis given the limited nature of available funding and staffing. City staff receives many requests for new marked crosswalks or enhancements to existing marked crosswalks throughout the year. These requests for more convenient or safer pedestrian accommodations come from a variety of sources including residents, businesses, new development projects, and planning efforts. As these requests for improvements are made, a strategy is necessary to determine the relative merit of the improvement and to further consider opportunities with other improvements which might be planned. For instance, there may be a road widening project that includes repaving and utility work where it becomes very cost effective to combine pedestrian related infrastructure such as a flashing crosswalk system with the other work already envisioned. To ensure opportunities are realized and pedestrian crossing needs are sufficiently investigated in a consistent and methodical manner, the Engineering and Transportation Department tracks requests received. Having conducted researches on other jurisdictions’ crosswalk policies and practices, city staff has established scoring criteria and three-tiered approach for San Leandro’s uses.