Do you yield? New signs on Broadway draw mixed reviews

Most people seem to like them, a few don't, and still others are apparently confused by the new "yield to pedestrian" signs installed in the middle of the street earlier this week along a four-block section of Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

"We've been getting calls about them," said Cape Girardeau Public Works director Stan Polivick. "Some people aren't happy with them while others are, so we're seeing a mixed response."

Eight signs were installed earlier this week at the Broadway intersections of Frederick, Middle, Fountain and Lorimier streets. The signs remind drivers Missouri law requires drivers to yield to pedestrians in designated pedestrian crosswalks.

"The intent is to give motorists a 'heads up' that there may be pedestrians present," Polivick said, adding that like anything else, it will take a while for drivers to get used to the signs and realize they don't have to stop unless pedestrians are in the crosswalks.

In addition to enhancing pedestrian safety, the signs are intended to get drivers to slow down on Broadway, according to Laurie Everett, owner of Annie Laurie's Antiques and several other businesses near the intersection of Broadway and Frederick Street. "When they did the revitalization and redesign of Broadway (in 2012) some traffic was moving too fast, and it seemed the crosswalks weren't clearly defined so drivers weren't always letting people cross the street," she said. "And in recent years we've had more and more pedestrians, including people walking dogs, pushing strollers and just enjoying downtown."

Everett said she has been concerned about pedestrian safety along Broadway for several years. In January she approached Cape Girardeau Councilman Robbie Guard to discuss the issue. "He and I were high school classmates and it made sense to reach out to him," she said.

"I thought it was a no- brainer," Guard said. "I went to the city staff and had a talk with (city manager) Scott Meyer and other council members. They made it happen."

Guard said the feedback he has heard about the signs has been generally positive. "Outside of a few naysayers, one or two people who said they didn't like them, the majority of what I've heard has been good."

The councilman said the new signs are similar to those he has seen in other cities and are in keeping with state law and local ordinances, both of which state, in part, that drivers "shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk."

City officials said the signs will be removed when necessary for snow removal and for certain events such as Southeast Missouri State University's Homecoming parade and the Christmas Parade of Lights.

The signs are "spring loaded," meaning they are intended to "give" if hit by a motorist. Although Cape Girardeau police have no record of it, there was reportedly one incident this week involving a Jeep Cherokee that ran over one of the signs causing little or no damage to the sign, but extensive damage to the vehicle.

jwolz@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630