TRAFFIC FLOW AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY CHANGES COMING TO NNSY By Anna Taylor • Public Affairs Specialist
Pedestrians and motorists will notice changes to traffic patterns across Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a multi-phase plan for enhancements is rolled out during the next few months. The Base Support Office (Code 800), in partnership with Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Public Works Department, has been working on the traffic enhancement and pedestrian safety improvement plan for several months, and construction is set to begin this month. “We’ve been making some small changes periodically, but we decided to sit down and come up with a plan, taking appearance and signage into consideration,” said Capt. Paul Amodio, Base Support Officer. “The goal is to see better traffic flow and increased vehicle and pedestrian safety.” Disorganized sidewalks and crosswalks, poor signage and congestion are a few of the difficulties plaguing the north end of the shipyard, which wasn’t built with cars in mind. “We had a lot of near misses,” he said. “There hasn’t been a real plan. We’d paint some crosswalks here and there, we bought some new signs, but there was never a real plan. There are a lot of blind corners for vehicles and pedestrians and we’ve been lucky we haven’t had any serious accidents.” The north end isn’t the only area receiving a face lift. Among the biggest updates will be a new three-way stop inside Gate 15 at the problematic intersection of Pennock Street and Old Williams Avenue. Planning for the construction has taken more than six months. “The contract completion date is planned for mid-January 2017,” said Assistant Public Works
Officer Lt. Thomas Gardner. “But most of the work should be performed this fall and wrapped up by the end of 2016.” According to Amodio, the disruption to daily work on the installation should be minimal. Labor will be completed during off-peak hours and the busiest areas and intersections will only be worked on during weekends. The traffic flow and pedestrian safety enhancements are designed to slow people down and make driving and walking around NNSY safer for everyone. New crosswalks will be added, existing road crossings will be repainted, pavement lettering and directional signage will be updated, and additional four-way stops will be added to several intersections. “I think the impact in the long run will be significant when you consider safety and traffic flow on the installation,” said Amodio. “Traffic will be slower. Nobody should be in a hurry. If you see anybody speeding, they should look out of the ordinary.” Another added bonus included in the work package is the addition of way finding signs for shipyard visitors and new employees. The signs will indicate popular sites, like the Callaghan Fitness Center, Bachelor Enlisted Quarters, and Headquarters Building. Street signs will also be added across the base to facilitate quick and easy response in the event of an emergency situation where first responders may not be familiar with building numbers. Amodio encouraged employees to be patient during the construction process. “Be courteous. At the end of the day, the base will be a lot safer and a lot more functional.”
traffic STATS
• In 2014 there were 4,884 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes – a twopercent increase from 4,779 pedestrian fatalities in 2013. • On average, a pedestrian was killed every two hours and injured every eight minutes in traffic crashes in 2014. • In 2014, 90 percent of the pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes that involved single vehicles. • There were 32,675 traffic fatalities in 2014, among them 9,262 (28%) in speeding-related crashes. • In 2014, 33 percent of motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes were speeding, more than drivers of any other vehicle type. Visit crashstats. nhtsa.dot.gov