MOORHEAD (KFGO) – MnDOT and the City of Moorhead are conducting a demonstration project in Moorhead intended to help protect pedestrians who use a busy crosswalk.
Called a pedestrian refuge island, the median allows pedestrians to focus on one direction of traffic at a time as they cross and gives them a safe place to wait for a gap in oncoming traffic to finish the crossing.
The island is on 8th Street at 4th Avenue South. City Traffic Engineer John Atkins says 8th Street South is one of the busiest streets in Moorhead and it’s very difficult to cross there. He says that’s resulted in numerous complaints from pedestrians.
MnDOT has installed temporary plastic posts to test the safety benefits of the refuge island. The site follows the footprint of where an island would be built. Engineers are monitoring the location with video.
A second demonstration is planned in Moorhead this September.
