<div>Have you noticed the new white traffic posts on Broadway Street? The city of Winona is testing out temporary curb bumpouts at some intersections to help pedestrians get across the wide thoroughfare. Bumpouts, or curb extensions, expand the sidewalk or curb line into the roadway at intersections, reducing the distance for pedestrians to cross the street and improving visibility between pedestrians and drivers. Winona’s new temporary bumpouts use several white delineator posts and traffic striping marks around street corners instead of expanding concrete sidewalks into the street.Director of Public Works Brian DeFrang said the city installed the first temporary curb extension at Grand Street a few weeks ago as a test to see how well it would fare, mainly to see if it got run over every day. DeFrang said the bumpout fared well and the city installed additional temporary curb extensions at Liberty and Lafayette streets, with plans to install one more soon at Johnson Street. DeFrang said the impetus behind the bumpouts for staff was the feedback from community members wanting curb extensions to help with pedestrian crossings. He noted that reconstructing an intersection with permanent, full concrete bumpouts would cost $50,000, so the city wanted to test the idea out with much less expensive temporary bumpouts. DeFrang said installing the temporary bumpouts at four intersections cost the city $3,500. Bumpouts at Johnson and Liberty streets were a part of Winona's larger Broadway road diet plan that garnered lots of community support and opposition several years ago.DeFrang said the city hopes the bumpouts will improve pedestrian safety at high traffic intersections. It is hard to gauge how impactful the bumpout at Liberty Street has been because St. Martin’s is not yet in session, but DeFrang noted that there are a high number of crossings there because of the school and park across Broadway Street. “Lafayette [Street], there are a fair amount of pedestrian crossings there. Johnson Street, with the library, is another reason we chose that one,” DeFrang said. He added that there are also a fair number of crossings at Grand Street, and he also wanted to test an intersection a little further from downtown. Broadway Street is 64 feet wide and the bumpouts go seven feet into the street on either side, DeFrang said, which reduces the distance people need to travel to cross the street from 64 to 50 feet. The bumpouts will be in place through the rest of summer and fall, DeFrang said, but they will be removed during winter and through the alternate side parking season and reinstalled again next spring. DeFrang said the temporary bumpouts wouldn’t hold up to snow plowing and would create extra work for residents. “It would be an extra seven feet of shoveling for the homeowner or whoever is maintaining that corner …” DeFrang said. “It would not work under snow conditions.”When asked if there will be more bumpouts added in the future, DeFrang said the city doesn’t have any other streets or intersections identified yet. He added, “We probably wouldn't do anything yet this year. Let's see how this works for the rest of the year before anything else. Like I said, this is a pilot project. Pilots are supposed to be studied, to be looked at before you make a determination on it.” DeFrang couldn’t say whether the temporary bumpouts would be made permanent if they were successful, stating, “That’s a money issue. At $50,000 an intersection, that’s a bigger lift, that’s a lot bigger lift.”“Thank you to public works for the pedestrian bumpout pilot on Sixth Street. The crossing at purple dinosaur park and St. Martin's looks fantastic,” City Council member Sam Zierden Shortridge said last week.</div>

Block Source: winonapost.com

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Have you noticed the new white traffic posts on Broadway Street? The city of Winona is testing out temporary curb bumpouts at some intersections to help pedestrians get across the wide thoroughfare. Bumpouts, or curb extensions, expand the sidewalk or curb line into the roadway at intersections, reducing the distance...

Winona tests temporary bumpouts on Broadway

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Have you noticed the new white traffic posts on Broadway Street? The city of Winona is testing out temporary curb bumpouts at some intersections to help pe

Winona tests temporary bumpouts on Broadway

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