Funny, I've had no issues as a pedestrian here. Traffic seems to stop much more with the huge "No turn on red" sign, and walk crossings are clear.

My problem is exact opposite: turning from Market onto Central has gotten more difficult. The old arrow is gone, and the no turn sign applies 24/7. So you're sitting at a dead intersection at 7am on a Sunday morning with no legal ability to turn, and wait and wait. I need to open a separate ticket about this actually. My preferred solution would to at least limit the sign by time and/or day of week.

Considering how often downtown pedestrians completely disregard right of way and wander into traffic outside of crosswalks, I would not make life even more difficult for motorists.

I'd like to see a city response on this issue, especially since it comes up at other crosswalks. Reopening, hope you don't mind, Craig.

I don't understand why people can just close tickets. Let's leave this open until the City provides input.

In general though, some of the prohibited turns probably do need time-based signage. For example, the prohibitions on turning left on John and Bridge are going to be a pain when there is light opposing traffic.

I thought it was a vote to close only, sorry about that. Obviously needs an official response. I agree with Corey that users shouldn't have power to actually close.

Agree with Corey, wondering whether time-restrictions might be an option. Would people follow them? Who knows. I totally agree the no-lefts off Merrimack onto John and Bridge will be a major pain at certain times of day and night, and people will probably just ignore the signs when traffic is light in the other directions, which is no good for anyone. Once some people violate them, others will too.

I also wonder if TD Bank is going to reverse their drive-through somehow or close it (I would love them if they tore that ugly thing out). That's an accident waiting to happen having a driveway that close to an intersection on the wrong side of the road. Feels like Middlesex Plaza now.

People trying to turn left into Canal Place's driveway on Market have a lot of potential to lock up the Palmer Street intersection by having two cars trying to turn left just behind each other but I figure people will use common sense on that one.

I have to drive out of here so I respect the automotive concerns too, but that needs to come second to pedestrian safety. Those of us fortunate to be able to walk quickly across a street to beat oncoming traffic despite a lack of a signal need to respect that a great number of our neighbors have no such option. I often walk blocks out of my way to avoid Market at Central, as well as Market at Dutton, because there's no safety from inattentive drivers making turns, and no light to stop them even when the pedestrian signal is lit--and I'm fit and fairly nimble. There are too many pedestrian accidents in Lowell not to put the right effort into solving this one. (And, for the record, the reason we're dealing with the increased danger at these intersections is, ironically, that 2-ways are supposed to improve pedestrian safety by slowing traffic).

Hope springs eternal Corey. I was almost hit by a car taking a left onto Market as I crossed with the walk signal at TD Bank.

Noticed this on the front page of The Globe at Brew'd this morning. Timely: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/18/some-boston-pedestrian-accidents-aren-reported-state/oY53CQ9ijoaPNF3gfIAQzL/story.html

A lot of this in Lowell unfortunately has to do with poor driver and often pedestrian behavior. You would think after one or two misses, people would be more careful. I'm not a fan of the "Pedestrians Everywhere!" signs we've added. Downtown Lowell is a visually overloaded environment as it is which helps explain why drivers don't "see" pedestrians.

I mean, in Lowellmom's situation, that isn't caused by a blind right-hand turn or any other design flaw, it's caused by someone trying to beat oncoming traffic through an intersection and failing to look. Craig is 100% right that as a younger pedestrian, I've never had an issue down here because I can move quickly and have my head on a swivel, but that doesn't apply to a sizable number of residents. I don't know how you get people to pay attention without some serious additional traffic enforcement fineing people until they smarten up.

Somebody else just said that if you're crossing over Prescott St the cars coming up Central have a green light. If that's true, since those cars are bearing slightly right instead of turning, that's gonna be wicked dangerous. A curb bump-out to narrow the entrance to Prescott and to make that an actual turn might help there.

I think that's an good suggestion for consideration. There's even possibility to reclaim area from the little triangular park between Prescott and the rump of Central. Because pedestrians running the gauntlet of that green light while crossing Prescott actually disappear around the building to the perspective of the oncoming cars it's exceptionally dangerous there.

Heh - the Speck report I guess actually had the same suggestion for Prescott (http://www.lowellplan.org/sites/default/files/forms/EvolPlanVolume2/EvolutionPlanLowResV2.pdf pg 46) but not for the Market/Central cut.

Rodney Conley assigned this issue to Eric Eby

I am aware of the conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians at this location, as well as at Central and Merrimack. The failure of motorists to follow basic traffic laws and yield to pedestrians when turning is the problem. The concurrent pedestrian phasing was intended to reduce delays for both motorists and pedestrians. Motorists do not have to sit and wait through an exclusive ped phase when the pedestrians have already crossed, and pedestrians don't have to wait through several phases for the walk signal to come on. The signals at the three intersections (both ends of Prescott, and Central at Merrimack), are now synchronized during peak traffic hours to reduce congestion and avoid gridlock. Changing the signal phasing at one or more of the locations to provide an exclusive pedestrian phase will cause more delay to motorists, disrupt the synchronization, and not necessarily make it safer for pedestrians, as many vehicles will still turn right on red regardless of the posted signs. Safety is the primary concern at these locations, and we will continue to monitor the situation to determine the best course of action. I have contacted the police to see if enforcement of yielding to pedestrians can be stepped up.

Thanks, Eric for your kind, thoughtful and thorough reply. It's appreciated that all these intersections are interconnected and any changes have to be carefully made

Increased enforcement and possibly additional signage to indicate to drivers their responsibility to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks would be an important improvement in the situation. In addition, Corey's suggestion (coincident with the Speck plan) to consider bumping out the pedestrian area on the east side of Prescott Street would seem to be a valuable one. Because of the speed of the traffic coming down Central and onto Prescott heading towards Merrimack, and pedestrians' inclination to "cut" the angle and walk straight across (and coincidentally into a blind spot caused by the building) to the eastern side of that intersection, some additional accommodation would seem to be important. (The crosswalk takes a longer angle back towards the main intersection, and generally away from the direction people are walking when they choose to cross there). This wouldn't require changing the duration of the signals, but it would require some alteration to the curbing and sidewalks, possibly on both sides of the street. (Adding out from the eastern side, and taking away from the little pie slice of park in the middle of the intersection between Prescott and the rump end of Central).

Having observed several near accidents already this week (with lighter traffic before school returns to session) I think it's critically important that attention gets paid to this as soon as possible.

Thanks!!!

I went to check out Central/Market/Prescott tonight on foot, and yeah, that's a doozy. People turning from Central to Market or Market to Central are driving in what is a lot more like a slip lane than a turn, and in both cases, largely with a building blocking the view for pedestrian and car. It gets more confusing because, of course, the walk sign says walk. I get the light synchronization issues and in general, I agree that dedicated walk cycles are more often than not inappropriate, but there has to be something we can do to slow traffic making these two maneuvers a bit more.

Worth mentioning that as I stood on the corner this evening a little bit after 9pm, a woman with a baby in a stroller nearly stepped out into the path of an oncoming car (she was crossing from the blind spot on Prescott towards the pie slice between Prescott and Central) that was coming towards her at speed (I estimated somewhere between 30 and 35 miles per hour) going northbound on Central in the right hand lane and turning onto Prescott without slowing down). She had a walk signal, and the car had no indication of any need to yield.

I guess it's worthless to expect productive response from the city on this app anymore...