The construction of the decorative crosswalks on North College Street is mostly finished and on full display for all tourist and pedestrian crossing.
Construction on these crosswalks began on Aug. 26. These expansions are only the beginning of a much larger plan of remodeling the pedestrian accommodations in Auburn, said Assistant City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch.
“The decorative crosswalks are done mainly in the downtown area,” Crouch said. “You see them on Magnolia and on the vicinity of campus.”
Crouch spoke about the significance of the new crosswalks.
“A lot of the reasons to add these are to make the crossings obvious to passing drivers and make them more aware of people crossing over, especially in areas with high pedestrian activity,” Crouch said.
The new sidewalks are raised as a means of drawing attention to pedestrians that are crossing the street.
The other reason the City decided to install the decorative crosswalks is simply the aesthetic appeal. The lights around the crosswalks were designed to have a nicer look.
“The decorative mast arms ... they have a little more architecture to them compared to the plainer ones, so they look a little nicer than the wire or regular metal ones,” Crouch said.
These new additions will also aid pedestrians in walking along the sidewalks at any time during the day or night.
“People think they’re street lights but they are decorative,” Crouch said. “They are all up and down College Street. They’re the short poles with the globe lights on them, and those aren’t meant to light the street for cars, but more for lighting the sidewalks for pedestrians while also making pedestrians more visible for passing traffic.”
All of these aesthetic improvements in the City are attempting to create a safer environment for pedestrians around Auburn and Opelika.
Makenzie Moore, a freshman in the exploratory program, says she walks most places.
“The traffic in Auburn on most days makes it difficult to drive everywhere you go, and when you do drive you spend so much time searching for parking,” Moore said.
Because of this, Moore walks to all of her classes, and walks to her destination every time she goes out.
“Sometimes cars don’t notice the crosswalks or me walking, so adding these new crossings to make [pedestrians] more obvious will make it safer when crossing streets,” Moore said.
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