The Columbia Public Works department will begin installation of accessible pedestrian signals Monday. The construction will equip two intersections on Worley street — Bernadette Drive and West Boulevard — with audible pedestrian signals and a countdown timer.
“It gives them an audible signal to tell them when the light is green and in which particular direction (to cross),” said John Ogan, Columbia Public Works spokesperson. “And we feel that's very important.”
The project is part of a bigger vision of providing assistance to people with disabilities.
The disabilities commission presented the department with a list of intersections that need improvement. Gretchen Maune, the vice chair of the commission, said the installment will help save lives.
“People who can't see weather due to blindness like me due to low vision, due to anything, deserve to have access to the exact same information that fully sighted people have,” she said.
The construction will close down the sidewalks and cause a few traffic changes. The anticipated end of the project is late June.