Salinas oficials mulling changes to city’s crosswalk policy

The city of Salinas could soon have a new crosswalk policy.

The Salinas City Traffic and Transportation Commission wants the city to adopt a set of guidelines that must be considered before putting in a crosswalk. The commission is expected to vote on the recommendations at their meeting Thursday night.

The commission says the city receives a lot of requests for crosswalks to be put in.

In the commission’s report, it lays out the guidelines for crosswalks, including the efficiency of and factors that need to be considered before putting in a new crosswalk.

Despite complaints to police and requests for adding more, there are certain guidelines that must be followed in order to get a new crosswalk approved – that’s if the city council gives this new policy the green light.

Janet May is probably the most cautious “walker” you’ll meet in Salinas.

“If I start to out to the street and it turns yellow, I just turn back I don’t challenge to go all the way across,” says May.

She treats the crosswalk like a mutual friend — someone she knows but doesn’t completely trust — unlike some pedestrian she sees.

‘Some people are daredevils ’cause they’ll walk across before it turns green,” says May.

Not everyone is cautious as May. The new proposed guidelines are in response to the city’s countless requests for more crosswalks. Salinas police also gets its fare share of calls – three to four times a week, according to officers.

“We get complaints regularly about vehicles not yielding to pedestrians or pedestrians running in the street,” said Police Commander Dave Shaw.

To view the full proposed guidelines that the commission will look at Thursday night, click here.