A number of efforts are underway to improve pedestrian access and crossings in Traverse City – even as questions linger over how some crossings work and whether they’re legally enforceable.

City commissioners adopted a “Complete Street” resolution in 2011 that affirmed the city’s commitment to designing streets that supported multiple uses – cars as well as pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit. As part of the resolution, the city joined Ann Arbor in passing a local ordinance that requires vehicles to stop for pedestrians in marked crosswalks. The ordinance goes beyond state law, which requires only that drivers yield to pedestrians who are lawfully in a crosswalk or intersection.

For the past several years since the ordinance’s passing, Traverse City has erected multiple “stop for pedestrian” signs in the middle of downtown streets, particularly along Front Street from Boardman Avenue to Hall Street. “Based on observations by the engineering department and police department, the in-street sign program has been successful in modifying driver behaviors and acts as a traffic calming measure,” Assistant City Manager Penny Hill told commissioners during a recent discussion about the signs.

City staff hope to soon finalize a policy that guides where additional signs can be placed around town. “We have received a number of requests for these signs in locations throughout the city,” says Hill. “However, studies have shown that excessive use of signs and pavement markings can substantially reduce the effectiveness of the devices.” Staff hope to limit the signs to roughly a dozen city locations (excluding school zones), focusing on areas with high numbers of pedestrians, high traffic volumes, and low speed limits.

But commission discussion about the policy raised a vexing question: Are drivers actually required to obey them? Hill told commissioners the county magistrate “does not feel that the local (pedestrian) ordinance can be enforced” because the city uses stop signs instead of the state-prescribed yield signs. Traverse City Police Department Chief Jeff O’Brien concedes the city’s pedestrian crossings are a legal “grey area.”

“I don’t think a municipality can extend a harsher law than state law,” O’Brien says. Failing to stop for pedestrians is considered a civil infraction under TC’s ordinance, but not under state law, he explains. O’Brien says his officers can and do issue tickets for drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, but notes they won’t write tickets for vehicles failing to stop at mid-block crosswalks.

Still, O’Brien and other community leaders say the signs are worth obeying for other reasons. For one, the slippery difference between stop and yield can favor pedestrians in the result of an accident. If a driver jeopardizes a pedestrian’s safety, he or she can face legal consequences for doing so. Hitting a wheelchair that’s attempting to cross is a misdemeanor in Michigan, while injuring or killing a pedestrian can lead to criminal charges – regardless of the driver’s intent.

“The other issue is, this is part of Traverse City’s culture now,” says O’Brien. “It’s become accepted, and it provides safety for people downtown. I always stop at those crossings. Regardless of whether they’re (legally) enforceable, it’s important that we all slow down, stop for people, and share the road.”

The in-street signs are one of several efforts to provide better local street crossings and safety measures for pedestrians. The city recently completed construction on the long-planned Pine Street Pedestrian Bridge to help pedestrians access the Warehouse District from Front Street. A new crosswalk from Hall Street across Grandview Parkway to the West End volleyball courts was also just built as part of the Garland Street reconstruction project. And Rotary Charities of Traverse City is in preliminary talks with the Michigan Department of Transportation about installing a temporary pedestrian crosswalk across M-22 during summer months so park users can reach Discovery Pier (the former coal dock).

City commissioners will also soon revisit the possibility of introducing either a four-way stop or a traffic light at the intersection of Hall and Front streets. The city temporarily used a four-way stop during the Garland Street project to ensure public transit buses could maintain their route schedules. “I’d like to see us experience that again and see if it makes sense, or if a traffic signal is needed,” says City Planning Director Russ Soyring. “Either way, I think (that intersection) needs to be evaluated."