This letter was originally published in the February 2017 Princeton Echo.
Although I agree that the “new, improved” traffic and crosswalk signals at the intersection of Washington Road and Nassau Street are causing problems, I disagree with your solution, i.e., require pedestrians to press the crosswalk buttons.
The main problem is that the new crosswalk signs sometimes lie! The signs only say “Walk” if there was a pedestrian there to press the activating button at the right time. But why should that be necessary? When the traffic lights turn green, and it is safe to cross, then the crosswalk sign should say “Walk”, regardless of whether or not a pedestrian is present. Otherwise the crosswalk sign would be ambiguous, i.e., it might say “Don’t Walk” even when it was perfectly safe to cross.
As a result, pedestrians quickly learn not to rely on the crosswalk sign, and start using their own judgment — not always a safe thing to do.
The solution is to remove the ambiguity: The crosswalk signs should say “Walk” when it is safe to cross, “Don’t Walk” when it isn’t, and flashing when you should not start crossing. Just like they used to.
The same remedy should be applied to the Wiggins/Witherspoon intersection.
The solution is simple; remove the ambiguity.
— Michael D. Diesso, Harrison Street
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