We’re proposing for the City of Houston to install a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (“PHB”) at the intersection of Stanford Street and Westheimer to make Houston a safer place to walk. Please refer  below to learn how a PHB works. 

I love walking, believing that the best way to learn a city is by foot. I’m also lucky to have many incredible coffee shops, restaurants, and boutiques. However, I often opt to drive, sometimes to reach a location less than even 0.3 miles from me, due to the dangerous crossing conditions in the neighborhood. Specifically, I find it incredibly difficult to cross Westheimer Road from intersections such as Stanford Street. 

My concerns were unfortunately confirmed upon learning that a 21 year old man was killed trying to cross Westheimer Road from Taft Street.  While the Stanford Street crossing is just 0.1 miles away from the intersection of Montrose Blvd and Westheimer Rd, many individuals opt to walk through neighborhoods as the state of sidewalks on Montrose Blvd would be considered unwalkable in other US cities. They are narrow, uneven, inaccessible to strollers and wheelchairs, and filled with grass and weed overgrowth. This is confirmed by the fact that in 2016 and 2017, a total of 6 incapacitating injuries occured on Montrose.
 

Foot traffic across this road is undoubtedly going to increase from current amounts. The new Montrose Collective building is just 456 feet from Stanford and Westheimer and boasts room for retail, restaurant and office space, guaranteeing increased traffic. Additionally, over 20 food and beverage businesses exist within just a 0.2 mile radius of the intersection of Stanford Street and Westheimer Road. 

The solution is not difficult nor disruptive. By constructing a PHB at the intersection of Stanford St and Westheimer Rd (or +/- 1 block away), pedestrians will be able to safely cross the street as needed, without having to run across the four lane road hoping that drivers will follow right-of-way laws. 

A PHB is different from a traffic signal in that it stays dark until activated by a pedestrian. When activated, the PHB “displays a sequence of flashing and solid lights that indicate the pedestrian walk interval and when it is safe for drivers to proceed. A solid red light requires drivers to stop while pedestrians have the right-of-way to cross the street.” For more information: http://www.pedbikesafe.org/pedsafe/countermeasures_detail.cfm?CM_NUM=53

To read more on the tragic state of pedestrians’ fate in Houston, please see: https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2021/02/03/invisible-epidemic-pedestrian-deaths-Houston-US

For information on pedestrian and cyclist fatalities in Houston, please see: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/bike-crash-death-stats-16725633.php