CRESTVIEW — The City Council received a request from resident Frederick Jackson to mark a designated pedestrian crosswalk across U.S. Highway 90 between the Tractor Supply Co. and Pic-n-Sav shopping center and a residential neighborhood across the street.
Many nearby residents lack cars and frequently walk to and from the shopping center, which has the closest grocery store, Jackson said.
"We've been lucky; so far, nobody's been hit crossing that highway," Councilman Charles Baugh Jr. "When they are, people are going to ask, 'What is the council doing about this?'"
A crosswalk is available at the Main Street-U.S. 90 intersection, so the state’s Department of Transportation likely wouldn’t consider adding one at the requested location, Public Works Director Wayne Steele said.
Still, he said, he would look into alternative possibilities of marking the well-used crossing area.
"All pedestrian crosswalks have to be signalized," Steele said. "All traffic has to stop."
If the state won't designate a crosswalk, potential warning signs or pavement marking could alert drivers that pedestrians frequently cross the busy four-lane highway, Baugh said.
"Just a flashing light or something" is all that's needed," he said. "I'd like to try to make that area a little bit safer for our citizens."
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: U.S. Highway 90 pedestrian crossing needed, citizen says