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City of Peoria shortens crosswalk wait-time by Campustown

Walking to and from Campustown and campus has been made easier thanks to the city of Peoria, which recently made changes to the stoplight at University street and West St. James street.

Before the change, the light was set at a 150-second cycle during the daytime, and runs by detection at night.

According to Nick Stoffer, Traffic Engineer of the city, this caused a lot of complaints from motorists during off-peak traffic times.

“Because of the long cycle length, there could be a very long wait for the side street traffic or a pedestrian pushing the cross button,” Stoffer said.

Now, the intersection is run by detection during the off-peak traffic time of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at night. It remains on the 150 second cycle otherwise.

Stoffer said while this change addressed the issue of side-street traffic build up, it also had the added benefit of providing quicker response time for students using the crosswalk.

Ever since the business college temporarily relocated to Campustown in the fall of 2017, pedestrian jaywalking has increasingly become an issue.

As a result, in March of 2018, the Bradley University Police Department launched a three-part campaign to reduce jaywalking after recording over 400 instances of it at this same intersection in a span of two weeks, according to former Lt. Sean Savage.

BUPD Chief Brian Joschko said he believes the city’s change will improve campus safety.

“The ability for pedestrians to activate the walk signal quicker will certainly reduce the temptation to jaywalk,” Joschko said. “As someone who both walks through and drives through the intersection regularly the changes make traveling between campus and Campustown quicker.”

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