Council Members Disagree On Need For Horsing Crossing Signal

Will a flashing signal make a popular pedestrian and horse-crossing at SOM Center Road and Hawthorne Parkway safer?

Depends who you ask.

A number of horse-riding enthusiasts told Solon's safety committee last summer they were , city officials have been to improve the perceived safety of the crossing. Residents say that drivers are too distracted and driving too fast, and that an accident seems inevitable.

But the data says otherwise: There's never been a recorded crash at the intersection, and informal counts by officers don't show a problem.

Riders have said they wanted a traffic light, but Traffic Engineer Kevin Westbooks said the intersection doesn't warrant a light.

Instead, Westbrooks came up with the idea of creating a series of flashing lights that would be activated by a rider or walker so that cars driving up and down SOM Center would be alerted that someone was using the crosswalk.

That solution would cost an . The Metroparks have , and also combine the two crossings into one.

Councilman Ed Kraus agrees with the riders, saying that a flashing signal will make the crossing safer and help encourage walking, running, biking, horse riding and other positive activities.

"For me, its more reason to be pro-active," he said. "We don't have a lot of other areas with that combination of cars, bikers, walkers, horses, like this."

But Councilman Bill Russo, with support from data gathered by the police, says there is no evidence that the crossing is dangerous. There has been no reported accidents there.

At last week's safety meeting, Chief Christopher Viland reported that he had officers conduct an informal hand count of traffic at the intersection over a two-and-a-half-week period in March. Officer counted for a total of 55 hours on various days and times.

He said roughly 38 cars passed through the intersection per hour, a horse every two or three hours and pedestrians every 10 minutes or so.

"They never saw a single close call," Viland said, later adding: "There is probably a perceived safety issue that is more perception than reality."

Added Russo: "I think in short of giving everyone a safety bubble to operate in, we're never going to have 100 percent safety."