U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Source: www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden
SAFETY BENEFITS:
Raised Median
46%
Reduction in pedestrian crashes
Pedestrian Crossing Island
56%
Reduction in pedestrian crashes
Source: Desktop Reference for Crash Reduction Factors, FHWA-SA-08-011, September 2008, Table 11.
A median is the area between opposing lanes of traffic, excluding turn lanes. Medians in urban and suburban areas can be defined by pavement markings, raised medians, or islands to separate motorized and non-motorized road users.
A pedestrian crossing island (or refuge area) is a raised island, located between opposing traffic lanes at intersection or midblock locations, which separate crossing pedestrians from motor vehicles.
Pedestrian crashes account for approximately 15 percent of all traffic fatalities annually, and over 75 percent of these occur at non-intersection locations.1 For pedestrians to safely cross a roadway, they must estimate vehicle speeds, adjust their walking speed, determine gaps in traffic, and predict vehicle paths. Installing raised medians or pedestrian crossing islands can help improve safety by simplifying these tasks and allowing pedestrians to cross one direction of traffic at a time.
Transportation agencies should consider medians or pedestrian crossing islands in curbed sections of urban and suburban multi-lane roadways, particularly in areas with a significant mix of pedestrian and vehicle traffic and intermediate or high travel speeds. Some example locations that may benefit from raised medians or pedestrian crossing islands include:
1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts - 2015 Data - Pedestrians. Report DOT HS 812 375, (Washington, DC: 2017).
