Thank you for contacting the City of Ann Arbor regarding your concerns for driver sight distance at this location. Review of the sight distance will be scheduled. You will be notified when the engineering review has been conducted.

We apologize for the delayed response. Staff reviewed the sight distance issue, took measurements and found the distance more than adequate.

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. City staff investigated and resolved the problem. Should you have any questions or concerns about the work performed, please leave a comment.

You know, a pedestrian was killed here, and another seriously injured. What sight distance, from the right-hand EB lane to what, was measured? Please compare that sight distance to the one on the extra beacon, west of the crossing at Willowtree, for EB Plymouth. For the crossing at Willowtree, you can see that early extra beacon more than 800' before that crosswalk. For the crossing by Kroger, from the right-most lane you can first see the beacons about 400' before crosswalk.

So let me rephrase the question. Why does it make sense to have an unneeded extra beacon for the right-most lane of EB Plymouth before the Willowtree crossing, when you could really use one for the right-most lane of EB Plymouth before the Traver Village crossing, where a pedestrian was killed in a crash involving exactly that lane? Sight distance to the crosswalk is only a part of the question.

Thank you for your A2 Fix It request, #301850. Your request is important to us and will be prioritized and addressed based on the overall availability of city resources. Please note: If the nature of your request is urgent, such as water emergencies, please check http://www.a2gov.org/a2fixit for phone numbers to contact us. A2 Fix It is for non-urgent, non-emergency issues and is monitored during weekday business hours only. Your patience is appreciated.

So I verified this last night. The extra crosswalk signal for EB Plymouth for the Willowtree crosswalk is pointless. You can see the actual crosswalk signals before you can see that extra signal. Walking on the south-side sidewalk, just east of Murfin, I looked as someone at the Willowtree crosswalk triggered the system. Standing, I could see both the signal on the overhead sign for that crosswalk and the extra signal. Crouching a little, I could see the beacon on the overhead sign, but not the extra one on the side of the road. Quickly heading east on Plymouth, it only took about ten paces to be able to see the lower beacons at the actual crosswalk. There is really no added value to the extra EB beacon.

OTOH, biking east on Plymouth this morning, I verified that from the right-hand lane, where the actual driver would be positioned, a tree blocks the view of *any* of that crosswalk, until you're in front of the EPA building @ 2565 Plymouth. And since the beacons point the other way for the WB traffic, you don't see a beacon until you're practically at the driveway for the EPA. The attached picture is a little blurry, but the green you see in the roadway there *is* the pedestrian island. You can see the island, and the WB side of the crosswalk, but you can't see the beacons for the RRFB at all.

The point is that the place where the pedestrian was killed has an RRFB that is not at all visible until you're nearly on top of it. But at Willowtree, there's a extra RRFB beacon serving no real purpose. It would make a great deal of sense to remove the one at Willowtree, and reinstall it either the same 300' back from the crosswalk (between the oaks), or better yet, before the Western tree, about 375' back from the crosswalk. It might actually do some good there, where a pedestrian was killed, as opposed to where it is now where it's just redundant.

I agree with original comment. An extra flashing beacon earlier than the one at the crosswalk would be very helpful here. I have seen a lot of cars EB on Plymouth fly past the flashing beacon at the crosswalk without even slowing down.