It's not just an enforcement issue. It's a signage issue. That's a tricky intersection. Just a few weeks ago, I saw someone drive up onto the median, because they couldn't stop quick enough for the pedestrian crossing. I was in the safety of my car, and my heart rate increased. It would have been very scary to have been the person trying to cross the street.

It's a signal that turns red right? People should be paying attention to traffic control devices if they are installed. There's also a sign right at the Boylan intersection that indicates there's a traffic signal ahead

People should be paying attention better, but we all know that they often times don't. The light is kind of hidden by a curve in the road. My personal suggestion right off the top of my head would be to install the signs that allow people to know that the light is red even before they can see the light.

That sounds like an expensive fix for a signal that isn't very often used. Going 45 mph, it takes about 360' to come to a complete stop (including reaction time to hit the brake). There's about 620' of sight distance going eastbound and 400' going westbound from the two curves on either side of the signal so there's adequate distance to see the signal and come to a complete stop. And even with the advance warning, there's no guarantee people will pay attention to that too.

Also from experience at another pedestrian signal, even if the light is red and there are no visible people using the crosswalk, people will still continue to run the red light - they might stop, look and then keep going. People are just impatient!

(Just my random thoughts - I don't work for the city so who knows what their thoughts are)

By the way, feel free to contact Jed Niffenegger - jed.niffenegger@raleighnc.gov

He's the main traffic engineer for the city and his department deals with signing/signal issues such as these. It's an NCDOT road so I'm not sure how much jurisdiction he has but normally NCDOT lets the City deal with signal issues.

If only people actually went 45 MPG on that stretch of road. You were correct that it is party an enforcement issue. Not only enforcing that people stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk but also enforcing the speed limit. The City of Raleigh isn't so great about speed limit enforcement.

My area of expertise is not the cost of road signs, so I really don't know what those cost. I do have a strong hunch that the crosswalk will be getting used more & more often now that Dix is a park, and the down population continues to increase.

Thank you for contacting the City of Raleigh. Your service request ID is #350516. We will be posting additional updates about your request as we have them.

I think the issue is really that the signal is rarely used so people out of habit just ignore it and expect it to be green 100% of the time (I drive by there daily to drive to/from work and I've seen it change maybe once in the last year). I agree though that it needs to be looked at along with Dix Park if more people are going to be headed that way from downtown.

Pierre, I live in Boylan Heights, this is not a typical crosswalk at the corner, the crosswalk is a good 40-50 feet to the right of Boylan Ave, and there is no signal or sign on Boylan for drivers. They should pay attention but don't. The light is hidden by a curve.

According to Google Maps there should be a sign on Boylan (if it's not there, it should be replaced): https://www.google.com/maps/@35.7717582,-78.6526769,3a,48.4y,280.05h,88.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEnpZ9O_AOkD11uoK7kMiLw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

this intersection has been an issue for years. Cars frequently do not know whether to stop or go turning off Western onto Boylan. they don't know where to stop when the light is activated. They can't tell if the light is activated when turning onto Western from Boylan. They go the wrong way down Western in order to get into the turn lanes. It is a hot mess. I've almost been hit going over to Dix many, many times. Now that they are pushing the park concept over there, the foot traffic may increase and the situation should be addressed before it gets worse.

Maybe the signal should get pushed back on the westbound approach to include the Western & Boylan intersection so no cars are entering that intersection when the light is activated. (with a flashing red right turn arrow and red light from the Boylan approach when the signal is/isn't activated)

I agree with AB that a big issue is not being able to see the light when turning right from Boylan onto Western. A driver is typically accelerating pretty quickly, because there are often times cars approaching fastly on Western.

I've seen cars turn right off Boylan and go the wrong way into the eastbound turn lane (from Western Blvd to Boylan) and do a u-turn so they can go back towards downtown on Western. It's a crazy intersection.

The City of Raleigh Traffic Engineering group is reviewing this and will make their comments soon. These concerns were also shared with the Raleigh Police Department and they have assigned this location to officers who work this beat for monitoring and enforcement of violations.

I'm just a layperson but I think there should be a no right turn light that illuminates for Boylan traffic turning right onto Western Blvd when the crosswalk signal is activated. Currently, when traffic on westbound Western is stopped, every driver uses this as an opportunity to to turn right off Boylan and they drive right through the crosswalk, they have no idea the light is red for pedestrians.

Jenny, that sounds like a good fix for the intersection. Will be interested to see what traffic engineering comes up with!

(Btw Autumn, I experienced this the other day so I now know what everyone's talking about haha)

I agree. I live nearby and often walk my dog in Dix. It really is a scary crossing for me. So much so I avoid walking in Dix except for weekend and holiday mornings. Way too dangerous.

As a means of increasing intersection visibility, we are working with our Urban Forester & NCDOT to see what vegetation can be trimmed/removed. We will also look at the signage and markings to make sure there is not something else we can add to alert drivers of the upcoming right turns and movements. Ultimately the City wants to move towards fully signalizing this intersection. This will be further explored as the master plan for Dorothea Dix is finalized. This location will likely serve as a main entrance and we do not want to devote resources to a course of action until we can be sure its implementation would be of a permanent nature.

Keeping the bushes trimmed is always a good.

Shave the bushes

This issue has been closed. If the problem persists, please re-open this issue and give us more detailed information on how to identify the location of the problem - then we will get right on it. Thanks a lot for reporting!