The Town of Prescott has approved some new pedestrian safety features on King Street.
At Monday night’s council meeting, the town voted in favor of adding two new crosswalks, one at the intersection of King and George Street and another at the intersection of King and Centre Street.
The decision was made after a contractor hired by town staff conducted a study of those intersections.
According to a report submitted to council, the contractor determined that “PXO Type B” crosswalks, which feature lights that indicate when someone is crossing the street, were the best option based on the speed limit and traffic volume on King Street.
Mayor Brett Todd was the only voter who didn’t support the new crosswalks, saying there’s community demand to turn those intersections into four-way stops instead.
“I’m not going to challenge the report,” Todd says, “because these guys are the experts, but just knowing what I know of the town, knowing what I know people want, I’ve been arguing for four-way stops for over a year now, and I’m going to stick with it.”
Despite voting against the new crosswalks, Todd is optimistic about them going forward.
“I hope this works,” he says. “I’m not trying to convince anybody to join me, I hope this works, but I do know what people in town are asking for, and I do think the four-way stops make the most sense for those two intersections.”
According to the report, the crosswalks are expected to cost the town a combined total of $37,600, whereas making both intersections four-way stops would cost approximately $55,000.
The money for the crosswalks is coming from the town’s “fiscal policy reserve,” set aside for projects like this in the municipal budget.
