At a community planning workshop on Jan. 31, two transportation planning organizations proposed solutions for dangerous pedestrian conditions at the intersections between Pelham Memorial High School and the Glover Field complex. The suggested steps focused on three key danger points at the intersections and included the addition of new crosswalks, a raised median and intersection mural—and even a roundabout.
The virtual meeting, which was hosted by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC), had the goal of addressing “the concerns around the dangerous pedestrian conditions at Colonial Avenue, Wolfs Lane, East Sandford Boulevard and the Hutchinson River Parkway access ramp by Glover Field,” said Miriam Salerno, managing director of the Voorhees Center’s Public Outreach and Engagement Team.
The first danger point is at the intersection of Wolfs Lane and Colonial Avenue. The white hatching painted onto the intersection’s pavement “can be a little bit confusing for drivers,” said Salerno. Additionally, the school crossing guard at the intersection before and after school hours cannot escort students across Colonial Avenue due to the jurisdictional boundaries between the Village of Pelham and Village of Pelham Manor, creating a situation that is dangerous for students leaving the school.
The second area of danger is at the underpass on Colonial Avenue and East Sandford Boulevard. “We want to point out how narrow the sidewalks are in this underpass and how close the sidewalks are to high-speed traffic,” Salerno said. “There is also poor lighting, and it can be very difficult for vehicles to see the students and [there is] very little separation between the moving vehicles, the roadway and the pedestrians.”
The final problem is the crosswalk across the Hutchinson River Parkway ramps leading to the entry to the Glover Field complex. The crosswalk, which is close to 85 feet long, is dangerous to the point where the Town of Pelham stationed a constable there to act as a de facto crossing guard for almost 10 years to ensure that students and other pedestrians could cross safely. “We sort of talk about this as one intersection, but it’s really two distinct intersections that are combined together, which makes for even more dangerous conditions,” said Salerno. “With all of the students crossing, there’s cars making turns into very quick vehicle traffic. Typically, there’s cars coming in and out of the entry ramps.”
Three Levels
NYMTC and Rutgers presented their solutions in three levels: updating pedestrian infrastructure (level 1), street calming (level 2) and intersection redesign (level 3). In introducing them, Salerno said addressing safety concerns at the intersections was difficult since the Village of Pelham Manor, the Village of Pelham, the City of Mount Vernon and New York State all have jurisdiction over various roadways involved, and the students come from PMHS in the Village of Pelham. He said the potential solutions presented are conceptual and starting points for discussion and collaboration between the communities involved.
Under level 1, the cross hatching would be removed at the intersection between Colonial Avenue and Wolfs Lane. NYMTC also proposed a repainting the existing crosswalks and the addition of two more crosswalks on Colonial Avenue and Wolfs Lane so pedestrians can cross in any combination of directions. NYMTC also recommended adding Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) elements to all the crosswalks to create a more accessible intersection.
For the underpass, NYMTC listed improved pedestrian-scale lighting and brightly colored safety guardrails on the sidewalk to draw drivers’ attention to the presence of people on the sidewalks. This would “help pedestrians feel separated and safe from the traffic and overall improve safety,” said Salerno.
Further down East Sandford Boulevard, the center listed three new crosswalks between Highland Avenue and the school district’s parking lot next to Target to increase options for pedestrians. Also suggested was using improved paint for the lanes and crosswalks, adding pylons on the road for increased visibility and adding ADA elements to these crosswalks.
“What all of this does together is it allows us to create a new walking route for students,” said Salerno. “I think this is really key and could really enhance the safety of the experience that these students are having.”
The level 2 proposals are focused on enhancing the corridor “with some newly built elements that provide a welcoming and safe route for pedestrians,” according to Salerno.
NYMTC recommended painting an intersection mural on the pavement to replace the crosshatching at the Colonial Avenue and Wolfs Lane intersection. “Not only is it visually appealing, but it helps to draw attention to drivers that there are pedestrians in the area,” Salerno said. “Using colors that stand out from the roadway is also really important when you want to draw their eye. It is also a nice opportunity to express community pride. It is something that you can do collaboratively with the community to come up with concepts for the intersection mural.”
At this level, a raised median would be used instead of the double yellow lines on Colonial Avenue and East Sandford Boulevard because this would narrow the road and encourage lower speeds. The median also would create a space to add vegetation, grass, shrubs and appropriately sized street trees to provide visual cues for drivers to reduce speed in the area, Salerno said.
In level 2, the crosswalk at East Sandford Boulevard and the Hutchinson River Parkway ramps would be raised above street level, Salerno said. “This helps to reduce traffic speed and increases visibility of the pedestrians as they’re crossing.”
Salerno described level 3 as the “big pie in the sky idea that we had about what we could do creatively to make it safer.”
NYMTC designed a peanut-shaped roundabout at the intersection of East Sandford Boulevard, the Hutchinson River Parkway ramps and the Glover Field access road. Across the roundabout, there would be a signal-timed crosswalk. “Roundabouts are a really great way to create safe conditions when you have an irregular geometric intersection,” Salerno said. “They are effective at lowering driver speed. They reduce traffic congestion. They reduce serious injuries and fatal crashes, and they just drastically reduce the number of potential conflict points between all road users.”
NYMTC and Rutgers designed an online website and survey, which will be open for approximately four weeks, to collect feedback from the community regarding their proposals (This story will be updated with the website and survey address when it’s available). After that, the team will prepare a report documenting the concepts and the community feedback, which will go to the county and be reviewed by the New York State Department of Transportation. The report will also include recommendations for funding sources.
Community Suggestions
The council split the participants up into two different breakout rooms to discuss the proposed ideas and suggest new ones.
Pelham resident Anthony Passante expressed concern that the plan did not address the aggressive drivers in the area and suggested a pedestrian overpass to avoid traffic altogether.
Rutgers Research Coordinator Jacob Thompson said that pedestrian bridges are very expensive and take up a lot of land, which would make the idea unfeasible. Similarly, Rutgers Research Coordinator Cate Heady said the bridge would have to be ADA accessible, creating an overly long ramp.
Pelham residents Adrienne Kiamie and Chris Pearlman both recommended building a bridge from behind the Pelham Library to Glover Field to completely avoid the Hutchinson River Parkway. Heady said that the area described was outside of the project scope, so it would need to be investigated by the Town of Pelham.
Pelham Councilwoman Maura Curtin described creating crosswalks that were painted to give a three-dimensional, raised illusion.
Thompson said the group had investigated crosswalk visibility enhancements with thermoplastics, which would have a longer lifespan than a painted crosswalk. “Thermoplastics increased visibility a lot,” he said. “They’re typically going to be really effective. They really stand out, especially in dark environments.”
Village of Pelham Fire Chief Robert Benkwitt III told Thompson and Heady that the purpose of the crosshatching at the Colonial Avenue and Wolfs Lane intersection was to allow students to cross diagonally or in any direction they wish. Heady said this reason wasn’t brought up in previous meetings.
Pearlman suggested creating a student committee to address the proposed solutions, especially with athletes who use Glover Field, since they travel through the intersection frequently. And Heady proposed creating a TikTok video to involve high school students in the process and engage them with the suggestions.
