Pedestrian safety beacons installed along Main Street at 1st Avenue but …

FERNDALE, Wash. — Pedestrian safety has been a hot topic when talking about the intersection of 1st Avenue and Main Street since the disabling and removal of the electronic traffic and pedestrian signals in 2017. Today, April 24th, installation of a pair of rectangular rapid flash beacons (RRFB) on the north-south pedestrian crossing on the west leg of the intersection appeared to have been completed as the new poles and hardware are in place.

But, according to city staff, the electrical system is not functioning as desired. Only the activation button and lights on the pole on the north side of Main Street are functional. The contractor hired by Puget Sound Energy to install the system has estimated it may be a week or more before the needed repairs are made to enable the activator and lights on the south side pole to function along with the north side pole system.

Similar RRFB crosswalk warning systems have been installed outside the Ferndale Public Library on Main Street and near Ferndale High School on Washington Street.

This was the final of a series of improvements at the intersection since removal of the electronic signals that included:

• replacing the left turn lanes on both Main Street legs of the intersection with 2-way left turn lanes.
• remove the standards and cross arms that held the traffic signals
• remove the signal hardware cabinets
• remove the pavement striping denoting the east leg north-south crosswalk
• replace the sidewalks and ramps leading to the east leg north-south crosswalk