These “Yield to Pedestrian” signs have been popping up all over Brickell. For the most part they have been placed in the correct location- in the middle of the road, where drivers can see them. However, the placement of this particular sign is just simply awful. Not only do drivers not notice the sign, but it also encroaches in the bike lane. I tried to move the sign, but it is bolted down into the road. Please move the sign where it belongs- in between the travel lanes before the crosswalk. Also, let’s stop purchasing the “Yield to Pedestrian” and start buying the “Stop for Pedestrian” signs instead.
Proper placement- in the middle of the road. The City of Miami should purchase “Stop for Pedestrian” signs instead
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This one actually WAS in the middle of the road, but it was getting battered by cars and was moved to it’s present spot. Guess what…if a 4 foot neon sign is getting nailed by cars regularly, THAT MEANS THERE IS A PROBLEM. Better a sign than a person.
Yeah, within a day or two of these signs going up, they looked like they’d been through a couple of wars.
Anecdotally, they do seem to have a meaningful impact on vehicular yield rates.
I’ve noticed on both S. Miami Ave and on SW 1st Ave that the first signs bear the brunt of the beating, while the subsequent ones look fine. It’s reasonable to expect they might get nailed at first as drivers get used to them.
Happy New Year guys!
We use the STOP for Pedestrian in Crosswalk signs all over Hoboken, and they’ve proven to be pretty effective at improving driver stopping compliance. On two-way streets, our policy is to place the signs on the double-yellow lines 5′-10′ prior to the crosswalk. However, since most streets in Hoboken are one-way, the majority of our signs are actually located off to the side of the street (11′-12′from curbline, 3′-4′ from on-street parking lane edge). Interestingly enough, the signs on the one-way streets have actually seemed to have the most positive impact. Keep in mind that when the signs are off to the side like that, it forces drivers to look in the direction of the sidewalk (likely where the pedestrians are coming from) and it helps reduce the street width, which should naturally help reduce speeding (at least in the adjacent travel lane).
Regarding situations such as in the photo above, we’ve placed the signs a few inches outside of the bike lane in order to keep the bike lane clear and narrow the adjacent travel lane.
One final note about these signs – in New Jersey all of these signs used to be the “yield” variety because sadly the state required vehicles to YIELD to peds in crosswalks. However, a couple years ago the state legislature passed a stricter law that required vehicles to STOP for peds in crosswalks (thus the change in signage). Therefore, the Miami signs may not be able to say “stop” due to state law. It’s stupid semantics but I think it does make a difference with stop compliance, so if it may be worth trying to change the state law.
Ryan – What’s odd is that there are actually STOP for ped signs all over the city (Grove and even other parts of Brickell and Miami Beach now) but the newest ones installed, shown here, are the Yield kinds. May have been a city vs. county thing.
Hey Ryan,
From my observations this particular “yield to pedestrian” sign isn’t doing it’s job. Perhaps adding a second sign on the other side would help rather than putting the sign in the middle of the road (although I do find them particularly effective on SE 1st St-one way two lane street) Also the sign should be put before the crosswalk not after.
Drivers are moving too fast on this stretch a road to care about yielding or stopping for pedestrians. Better sign placement is definitely a problem, but lack of enforcement is also a huge issue on Brickell. Although I do think with proper sign placement drivers would be more likely to yield or stop, thus becoming less of an enforcement issue.
There’s been a HUGE improvement in pedestrian safety in Brickell since these went up. Crossing SW 1st Avenue from the Metro station was risking your life, as cars sped down from SW 8th Street. Now cars are driving slower and actually stop for the many pedestrians in the area. These yield signs aren’t perfect, but they have definitely improved things.
I see these signs as a place holder for the ultimate stop lights and intersections that will get put up in their place throughout the city. The City has been putting these yields sign everywhere- Edgewater, Design District, Wynwood, Little Havana, you name it. But ultimately, they’ll have to be replaced by stop lights to become truly effective.
Sorry Kevin, I disagree. If a street is properly designed and pedestrians are prioritized, traffic lights aren’t necessary. The cost and maintenance involved with traffic lights is outrageous. We are better off putting in traffic circles.
@Craig: Now that I think about it, I do recall seeing the STOP version of the sign elsewhere, so yes, that’s strange.
@Felipe: We’re actually experimenting with putting the signs on both sides of a street to see what kind of impact that has, so it may be worth a try down there too. Ultimately I think these signs were designed more for small two-lane, two-way streets or one-lane one-way streets than for three-lane one way arterials like North Miami Ave, etc.
I think we both strongly agree that in order to have a major impact on safety, we need a lot more than just these signs for multi-lane arterials such as in the photo above.
@Felipe: Traffic lights are certainly more expensive than the signs we have up now, but I think the cost is justified in an urban environment like Brickell. As you have more cars and more people on the streets, traffic lights are more effective in managing the street.
@ Kevin- agreed in very dense urban environments we need traffic signals.
These signs are great. As a driver that daily is on SW 1 st ave those signs help to remind us of pedestrians in the area. The unfortunate and frustrating thing is that many pedestrians ignore that first sign and instead decide to cross on the other side off of publix. So I stop for pedestrians where there is a crosswalk and yield sign and then have to stop again 10 feet down for pedestrians that decide to just cross. I wish there were a way to educate these pedestrians or maybe it’s a matter of moving the crosswalk. On one hand it makes sense since most people walk out of publix and can cross but then there is also the entrance to garage right there so could be hazardous.
Fernando, The problem isn’t the pedestrians. The problem is that there should be a crosswalk on both sides of the street. You are right it makes sense that people walk out of Publix, with bags in hand, and they should be able to cross the street in a proper crosswalk. Again, the city has done a mediocre job at best at improving this street. They will use the construction of EnVy as an excuse, but paint is cheap and this street could be vastly improved in an afternoon.
Traffic circles are horrible for pedestrians due to the higher traffic flow, especially when people insist on crossing through the circle instead using the crosswalks. I’ve seen people doing this dozens of times and its extremely dangerous.
Regarding SW 1st Ave. in Brickell, we really need to have better managed intersections there. First of all, it is adjacent to a major Metrorail station and bus transfer hub. Traffic turning from SW 9th and 10th streets frequently backs up, especially 10th which is often backed up all the way to Miami Ave. With Mary Brickell Village, these streets are no longer quiet, minor side streets. These drivers get impatient and are less likely to stop for pedestrians. The traffic backup of cars waiting to turn left on to SW1st Ave. also delays the busses and trolleys.