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Resident urges crosswalk at Willow and Perry after near‑misses involving children
Summary
A Harrisburg resident told the council she has seen middle‑school–aged children and other pedestrians risk injury crossing Willow at Perry and asked the city to consider crosswalks, signage, or other traffic controls; staff said lack of a south‑side sidewalk and ADA considerations complicate immediate action.
Faith Yerden, who said she lives at 102 Perry, told the Harrisburg City Council she has repeatedly witnessed dangerous crossings at the intersection of Willow and Perry, including a middle‑school‑aged girl who dropped a scooter and a child who fell into a ditch while riding a bicycle. Yerden said she submitted a concern to city staff last summer but received no substantive follow‑up and described parked vehicles and construction on nearby Perry Lane that force pedestrians to cross Willow frequently.
Yerden said traffic on Willow often moves ‘‘really fast’’ and that many drivers do not stop, creating a hazard for her family, including her youngest son. She proposed a range of potential safety measures — including a marked crosswalk, a four‑way stop, reduced speed limits, or lighted push‑button crossings — and suggested interim signage to direct pedestrians to the nearest existing crosswalk near the hair depot.
City staff were referenced by Yerden as having told her there is currently ‘‘no safe landing’’ on the south side of Willow because there is no sidewalk there, and that rumble strips were being used to indicate a landing for visually impaired pedestrians (a statement she interpreted as meaning the crossing is out of compliance). The transcript records that a staff member named Andrew advised limitations on installing a crosswalk without a safe landing on the opposite side, though he also said the city planned to examine nearby crossings (Wybie and Willow) in future work.
Council members and others in attendance agreed the location appears concerning for pedestrian safety and suggested short‑term and longer‑term actions, including improved signage, use of crossing guards where the school is involved, and evaluating the timing for new sidewalks as nearby construction completes. No formal action, funding allocation or ordinance to install a crosswalk was made during the meeting; the item was presented in public comment for council consideration.
The council did not set a timeline for staff to return with a firm plan at the meeting. Yerden’s remarks add to the record of resident requests the city already holds and will inform any future engineering review of Willow Street crossings.
