The crosswalk on North Washington Street between the parking lot and the county office building is an accident waiting to happen, according to village officials.
Katie Nichols, village trustee, said during a meeting Monday she recently had a pedestrian jump out from behind a car before running across the street. The incident could have easily resulted in a collision, but Nichols said luckily she was able to stop in time.
State law requires motorists to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks, but village board members all agreed that aspects of the crosswalk on North Washington Street hindered even those wanting to obey the law from doing so.
After consulting with village police Chief Joseph Malone, board members decided two parking spots on either side of the crosswalk blocked the line of sight for drivers, keeping them from seeing pedestrians until the last moment.
The board on Monday unanimously voted to eliminate the two spots as the first step in addressing safety concerns related to crosswalks.
Malone was unavailable Tuesday to give a date when he planned to block out the spots.
Mayor Mark Ainsworth also suggested the board look into eventually placing signs in the middle of crosswalks at all high pedestrian-traffic areas, similar to other municipalities, to prevent any accidents.
In other action, the village announced there will be free parking for the holiday season. Drivers will not have to feed meters from Nov. 27 to Jan. 2.
