Background
News Reporting:
Woman dies after being struck by pickup truck in crosswalk – The Baltimore Banner
Detectives Investigate Circumstances Surrounding Fatal Pedestrian Crash in Cockeysville
- Crash occurred around 9:23 AM
- I don’t need the news reporting, my family drove past this crash minutes after it occurred as the EMTs were arriving
- Two runners were clearly crossing Dulaney Valley Rd in the crosswalk and were hit by a truck
- The news reporting makes no sense, it says vehicle heading east but the only crosswalk runs east-west across Dulaney Valley on the north side of the intersection and I saw the (fatally) injured pedestrian lying on the road just north of the crosswalk.
- Obviously there is no infrastructure report yet, but I will be watching this closely not only because I saw the aftermath, but I frequently bike through this intersection and have used that crosswalk
Context per MDOT SHA’s map: Suburban (D)
Infrastructure Report
Obviously not out yet, the crash just happened today.1
Google Streetview (obviously mine since the report has not been started even yet): https://maps.app.goo.gl/bCTyAVKzyqnN6LsS9
Deficiency found?
Findings:
My Opinion
It’s early for me to form an opinion, but having been through this intersection many times on my bike. (As of 9/17/23, I’ve done the Strava segment leading to the intersection from the east 115 times, it’s part of a couple different mid-week work-out rides I do.) I’ve used that crosswalk to access the trails into Loch Raven Reservoir on foot.
Here’s what I know about that intersection.
- Dulaney Valley Road / MD-146 is wildly, unnecessarily wide in the corridor from Charmuth to Pot Spring. The lane widths are absurd and there is no right-hand shoulder marking. It feels like a road that is safe at speed much higher than the signed 40 mph. AND it’s a long downhill from I-695 to this intersection, so it’s very easy for vehicles to let their speed creep up if they’re not careful.
- There is a crosswalk painted here, but it is not the higher-visibility “continental crosswalk” standard that MDOT SHA is now using
- The crosswalk leads from an informal, unmarked trail to a wide shoulder that’s used as parking for the trail in Loch Raven Reservoir. In other words, there are not visual cues or indicators to drivers that pedestrians will be present at this intersection. There’s a lonely “pedestrian” warning side before the intersection, but more could be done here to make this safer for pedestrians (see below).
- Visibility is very bad if you are standing at the northeast corner and looking to see traffic coming down the hill. The curvature of the hill obscures on-coming traffic and you can miss a vehicle. This streetview doesn’t really do it justice, but it gives you the idea of where the inflection point could hide traffic.
This image really shows how crazy wide the lanes are on Dulaney Valley Road. Narrower lanes might help to naturally slow traffic. It would also seem very do-able to add bump-outs to reduce the crossing width for pedestrians.
That’s it for now, I’ll have to wait to see what comes of the Infrastructure Report.
Update 4/15/2024
Last week some new pedestrian infrastructure was installed at this intersection. I snapped some pictures this weekend to show that some improvement has been made, but I don’t believe the real issues with this crossing have been addressed.
The pedestrian infrastructure added is only sidewalks and tactile paving at either end of the crossing. Nothing has been done to address the crossing distance nor are there pedestrian crossing signals or call buttons.
The lack of pedestrian crossing signals and call buttons is particularly troublesome because eastbound Seminary has a left-turn green arrow. By my observation, the sequence at this intersection goes:
- Left turns signals for N/S MD-146
- Green signals / red left-turn arrows for N/S MD-146
- Eastbound Seminary (left-turn and regular light)
- Green signals for both W/E Seminary
Critically, if there are no cars tripping a loop sensor in the pavement for westbound Seminary, the light will skip the westbound green (step 4 above) altogether! I’ve absolutely waited for a green going westbound on my bike and not gotten it at all because my carbon frame bike didn’t trip the loop sensor and there was no car waiting behind me (I’ve noticed my bike is about 50/50 on tripping those sensors). Pedestrians wishing to cross westbound are in even worse shape – they can neither trip the loop sensor to trigger a westbound green NOR can they tell when eastbound traffic has a left-turn arrow.
So while the sidewalks are a nice addition and they do minorly increase the visibility of the crossing (notice that the crosswalk markings have not been refreshed in the 7 months since the fatal crash), without pedestrian crossing signals and call buttons and with the wide, high-speed lanes and steep hill at the south, this remains a very dangerous intersection for pedestrians.
Update 5/7/2024
Last week my wife informed me that passing through this intersection she noticed that they had repainted the crosswalk! Over the weekend I ended up driving through this intersection and noticed what I thought were the mounting points for pedestrian crossing signals! And now this morning (5/7) as I rode my bike through this intersection, they have begun installing pedestrian crossing signals with what look to be pedestrian call buttons!
Fair play SHA, this is what I wanted to see.
It would have been better to get the re-marking done more immediately after the fatal crash, but I’m just thrilled to see the pedestrian signals and call buttons – this is major safety improvement.
- Update 4/15/2024 – no infrastructure report yet, though we are now nearly 7 months from the fatal crash
Update 5/7/2024 – still not report, getting close to 8 months later and after some real safety improvements ↩︎
Maryland's Lethal Highways 