Description

Main Street intersection at the top of the UVM campus by university heights road. As someone who uses the two crosswalks at this intersection daily, I'm a frequent observer of near-collisions between cars and pedestrians. Today, I was the subject of one of these near collisions as I tried to use the crosswalk closer to the Davis Center. When using that specific crosswalk, one receives a white walk signal for a few seconds before it starts to blink. Once the crossing signal begins blinking (with 15-20 seconds left to walk), the cars coming out of University Heights rd receive a green light, permitting them to turn left through that same crosswalk. This means that if said cars aren't paying attention, there's a chance that they run over any pedestrians still using the crosswalk. This happened to me today as I approached the crosswalk from the side of the street opposite University Heights rd with 15 seconds to spare. I noticed that left-turning cars started to move, with one speeding in front of me as I approached and stopped at the road (seeing as they did not stop nor slow down for me). Then, I started to jog towards the center median (after noticing cars accelerating down U-Heights rd to make the green light) and subsequently was required to jump out of the way as a speeding car came inches from killing me. I believe that this intersection is hazardous and urgently needs redesigning. Cars need to be informed that a solid green light still indicates a yield when turning. At this intersection, pedestrians have the right of way, but it sure doesn't feel like it. As for solutions, I would gladly provide some in further correspondence, but perhaps at the bare minimum, raising the crosswalks would help cars stay alert.
Thank you for your consideration,