New lighting and crosswalk signals installed in downtown Morgan Hill recently are designed to make the neighborhood safer for pedestrians, according to city staff.
The improvements, which have been in the works since late 2015, include new in-ground flashing lights at the Third Street crosswalk at Monterey Road. Pedestrians activate the lights by pushing one of four buttons located at each corner before they cross Monterey Road.
These lights are expected to be operational by early next week, according to City Manager Steve Rymer.
Rymer gave an update on the city’s downtown pedestrian safety improvements at the March 15 city council meeting. He noted that the council has previously agreed to install these flashing lights at the Third Street crosswalk before trying similar measures at other downtown intersections.
City crews also recently installed overhead lights in the Monterey Road median at the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Street crosswalks. These lights are designed to improve motorists’ nighttime visibility of pedestrians as they cross these intersections.
The council also unanimously approved a $306,000 contract with Mike Brown Electric Co. to install a traffic signal at Monterey Road and Fourth Street at the March 15 meeting. The five-member body previously directed city staff to begin the process of installing this signal, and implement more lighting and other pedestrian safety measures, in September 2015.
Installation of the Fourth Street traffic signal is scheduled to begin in April, and complete by July, according to city staff.
The city’s goal in redeveloping the downtown—a process that started vigorously in 2015—is to attract visitors and new residents, while making it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, according to city staff.
Other safety improvements downtown that are unique to the neighborhood include bright orange hand-held flags that pedestrians can carry across key intersections to make themselves more visible, resurfacing and narrowing of Monterey Road vehicle lanes and the installation of signs labeling the right travel lane on both sides of Monterey as a bicycle lane.
Downtown was the site of two accidents involving pedestrians in 2016. On July 4, two children were struck by a Jeep and injured while crossing Fourth Street at Monterey Road. On March 12, 2016, two women were struck by a Ford while they were crossing Third Street at Monterey Road.
Both accidents occurred at night.
