Irvine is trying a hybrid light system to provide safer street crossing for pedestrians - OCRegister

Irvine is trying out a signal system for pedestrian crosswalks to better alert drives to people walking or biking in front of them.

Called a pedestrian hybrid beacon, the device is activated when the person coming up to the curb to cross pushes the button. That prompts lights posted above the street like a traffic signal to first flash yellow to alert drivers to slow to a stop.

Then red lights go on as the pedestrian is given a signal to start crossing and then a countdown to get across the street. As the numbers count down, red lights for drivers start to flash so they know they can proceed if the pedestrian has cleared the path. The red lights turn off again at the end of the cycle.

There are signs telling drivers and pedestrians the steps.

This hybrid system is particularly good for mid-block where pedestrians often want to cross but there is no need for a traffic signal for vehicles, officials said.

Irvine is trying the system on Alton Parkway in front of the Edwards Lifesciences campus, where a few thousand people work and there are a lot of pedestrians, city spokeswoman Melissa Haley said.

“By putting a light there it doesn’t escalate to the point of needing a traffic signal, but it needed to be elevated to having more than a pedestrian crosswalk there,” she said.

The city will monitor the effectiveness of the system and the efficiency for traffic before deciding whether to roll out more in Irvine, Haley said.

The hybrid systems are used quite a bit in Arizona and elsewhere in the country, but this is a first for Irvine

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Irvine is trying a hybrid light system to provide safer street crossing for pedestrians - OCRegister
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