HomeMy WebLinkAbout5559-6/08/2020Prepared by LeAnn M. Even, Deputy City Clerk, City of Waterloo, 715 Mulberry Street,
Waterloo, IA 50703, (319) 291-4323.
ORDINANCE NO. 5559
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF
THE CITY OF WATERLOO, IOWA, BY ENACTING A NEW
SECTION 5-2-14, PEDESTRIAN SAFETY, USE OF MEDIANS.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WATERLOO,
IOWA AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. That the Municipal Code of the City of Waterloo, Iowa, 2020, as heretofore
amended, is hereby amended by adding and enacting new Section 5-2-14, relating to pedestrian
safety and use of medians, as follows:
5-2-14: PEDESTRIAN SAFETY, USE OF MEDIANS:
A. The City Council makes the following findings and adopts the following statement of
purposes of this section:
1. Pedestrian fatalities increased in the United States by 46% from 2009 to
2016, with the largest increases in urban arterial streets, according to the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
2. Fifty percent of pedestrians who are struck by a vehicle travelling at 30
miles per hour are killed; as speed increases, a higher percentage of people struck
are killed, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Literature Review
on Vehicle Travel Speeds and Pedestrian Injuries (2000).
3. The National Association of City Transportation Officials Urban Street
Design Guide (2011) states that a median or island should be at least six feet wide
where pedestrians are present. This is consistent with the Public Rights of Way
Accessibility Guidelines promulgated by the United States Access Board which
specify that a pedestrian refuge in a street must have a top surface width of six
feet, excluding curbs.
4. Section 240 of the City of Waterloo Traffic Code provides that
pedestrians crossing a street in the business district shall cross in crosswalks
only. In the ten years preceding, ten pedestrian fatalities have occurred in
Waterloo. There have been 341 pedestrian injuries.
5. The City Engineer has determined based on City GIS maps and/or, where
appropriate, site visits that the intersections listed in subsection (b) of this
Ordinance do not have medians or islands of adequate width for pedestrian
refuge; therefore, pedestrians should be prohibited from standing, sitting or
staying in the medians at these intersections for any purpose other than to cross
the street, if crossing is lawful.
B. Pedestrians are prohibited from standing, sitting or staying on a median or ramp nose
for any purpose other than to cross the street, if lawful, unless the width of the top surface
of the median, excluding the curbs is at least 6 feet wide. This prohibition includes, but is not
limited to, medians and ramp noses on or near legs feeding the following intersections in the city:
E. San Marnan Drive and 218/380 Ramps
Ordinance No. 5559
Page 2
E. San Marnan Drive and LaPorte Road
Bopp Street and LaPorte Road
Bopp Street and Crossroads Blvd.
Grimm Street and Crossroads Blvd.
Pennys Street and Crossroads Blvd.
Sears Street and Crossroads Blvd.
Flammang Drive and Crossroads Blvd.
Flammang Drive and Sarah Drive
E. San Marnan Drive and Sears Street
E. San Marnan Drive and Pennys Street
E. San Marnan Drive and Flammang Drive
E. San Marnan Drive and Shoppers Blvd.
E. San Marnan Drive and Lowes Blvd.
C. Pedestrians are prohibited from standing, sitting or staying on a median or ramp nose
for any purpose, other than to cross the street, if lawful, regardless of the width of the top surface
of the median, or ramp nose along the following streets or rights -of -way:
San Marnan Drive from Texas Street to Ansborough Avenue
Sears Street
Pennys Street
Crossroads Blvd.
Flammang Drive
Bopp Street
D. Sections 5-2-14(B) and (C) do not apply to:
1. Police officers, peace officers and parking enforcement personnel of the
police department or employees of the fire department while performing official
duties of the city.
2. Employees or contractors for the city or other individuals authorized by
the city to perform construction or maintenance work on city streets or rights -
of -way, while performing construction or maintenance work on the street
provided that proper signage is used and streets are blocked off as
required by the city.
3. Any individual responding to an emergency in the street.
E. The penalties for violating this Section shall be a simple misdemeanor pursuant to
Title 1, Chapter 3, Subsection 1 (1-3-1).
Section 2. Should any section or part of any section, paragraph or clause of this
ordinance be declared invalid or unconstitutional for any reason, it shall not invalidate or impair
the validity, force or effect of any other section or sections or part of a section or paragraph of
this ordinance.
Section 3. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage
and publication as provided by law.
INTRODUCED: May 26, 2020
PASSED 1st CONSIDERATION: May 26, 2020
PASSED 2nd CONSIDERATION: June 1, 2020
PASSED 3rd CONSIDERATION: June 8, 2020
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 8th day of June 2020.
Ordinance No. 5559
Page 3
Quentin Hart
Quentin Hart, Mayor
ATTEST:
Kelle# Yelcide
Kelley Felchle
City Clerk