Committee adopts high‑visibility crosswalk policy, favors ladder‑style markings

The Ashwaubenon Pedestrian & Bicycle Committee voted to approve a draft high‑visibility crosswalk design policy and forward the policy to the village board for adoption, with committee members asking staff to favor a ladder‑style marking where feasible. The motion carried after brief discussion about maintenance costs, paint slipperiness and how the policy would be implemented on recently bid projects.

Why it matters: committee members said a uniform, engineering‑based policy will reduce subjective, case‑by‑case decisions about crosswalk design, make markings more consistent for drivers and pedestrians, and provide staff with a vetted standard to use when projects are designed and bid.

Staff presented a preliminary crosswalk inventory and recommended criteria that would require high‑visibility markings at mid‑block crossings, school zones, parks, libraries and senior centers, and at locations with recent pedestrian crashes. Joel (staff member) and Brian (staff member) told the committee the village’s preliminary inventory shows roughly 400 crosswalks and that a large majority are simple transverse lines; Brian said the transverse lines are the most common marking and that more elaborate bars or ladders are less frequent.

Committee members discussed preferred markings and maintenance. Brian (staff member) cautioned that large painted areas can be slippery when wet and said they consume significant paint — “you’re probably 15 gallons per crossing” for some long bar patterns — and can increase maintenance costs. Committee members said ladder markings would create more consistency and asked staff to use ladder patterns as the preferred style, while recognizing exceptions where existing treatments or roadway geometry make a change impractical.

The policy uses federal and state guidance — including the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and FHWA recommendations — to define high‑visibility treatments and to set objective criteria for when to apply them. The committee directed staff to validate the inventory in the field and to apply the policy as crosswalks are scheduled for maintenance or reconstruction rather than attempting a single, village‑wide retrofit.

Ending: The committee approved the draft policy, including a preference for ladder markings, and forwarded it to the village board for formal adoption. Staff will complete field validation of the crosswalk inventory and incorporate implementation timing into future maintenance plans.