30-03-2025
Allegheny College installs flashing crosswalk signs
Allegheny College now has flashing crosswalk signs operational at the college's two busiest crosswalks on North Main Street.
The flashing crosswalk signs are at the crosswalk at North Main Street and the Brooks Hall Road Gate; and at the crosswalk at North Main and George streets by the Baldwin Hall dormitory.
The project to alert drivers traveling North Main Street has been about two years in the making, said Joseph Michael, Allegheny College's director of facilities.
'Those are our two busiest crosswalks with students and other pedestrian traffic crossing that area campus,' Michael said.
There are ADA-accessible push buttons on poles on each side of North Main Street at both crosswalks to activate the flashing warning lights.
Those crosswalks are less than 500 feet apart but carry foot traffic between dormitories and classroom buildings and other facilities located on both sides of North Main Street.
The project cost the college around $90,000 with Bronder Technical Services of Prospect carrying out the work, Michael said.
Mark Weindorf, Allegheny College's director of public safety, said the project is welcomed improvement.
'Those are the two busiest crossings and North Main Street is on a hill,' Weindorf said. 'The different colors and flashing lights will draw attention to motorists.'
The flashing crosswalk signs are an outgrowth of a 2016 safety improvement study for the North Main Street corridor that runs through Allegheny College's campus.
A half-mile section of North Main Street — from Loomis Street to Allegheny Street — was studied for potential safety improvements by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Allegheny College and the City of Meadville.
The study came about following the 2015 death of an Allegheny College student who died after being struck by a car on North Main Street in front of North Village II residence hall.
PennDOT, in conjunction with the college, the city and WRA, a national engineering and consulting firm, a public meeting on campus in 2016 to gather ideas from the public.
In late 2016, Allegheny did a $400,000 street lighting project on the west side of North Main Street to add 24 light-emitting diode, or LED, street lights to improve visibility.
Allegheny was awarded a $200,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant from Pennsylvania toward the LED lighting project.
Those lights illuminate North Main Street from Loomis Street to Allegheny Street.
