HAWK Envy? Chevy Chase, DC, Gets Pedestrian-Activated Traffic Signal

Ever wished that you could just walk up to an intersection, press a button and—presto—stop traffic so you could cross the street?

Some residents of Chevy Chase Village have been asking the Maryland Department of Transportation for months to install a traffic signal and marked crosswalk across Connecticut Avenue near Chevy Chase Village Hall. That request has been denied, for now.

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, on the other side of the Maryland-Washington, DC, border—in Chevy Chase, DC—a special new pedestrian-activated signal was installed on April 19 to allow pedestrians to stop traffic to cross Connecticut Avenue at Northampton Street at the touch of a button.

The new signal—called a HAWK, or High-Intensity Activated crossWalK, signal—is right outside the Chevy Chase Community Center and Chevy Chase, DC, library. For some time, orange flags were available at the intersection on either side of Connecticut Avenue for pedestrians to use to make themselves more apparent to drivers.

"The HAWK signal is designed to help pedestrians safely cross busy streets," according to a news statement from the Washington, DC, Department of Transportation.

"While it appears differently to motorists, for pedestrians, this signal operates similar to other push-button-activated traffic signals in the District. It stops traffic with a red signal, allowing pedestrians to cross with a walk display. At certain locations, the signal can detect the presence of pedestrians waiting to cross and automatically activate," the news statement added.

It took the Chevy Chase Advisory Neighborhood Commission several years to get the HAWK signal installed, as is typical for most improvements, Chevy Chase ANC Commissioner Jim McCarthy told Patch.

"The process [of getting the HAWK signal installed] was expedited after a serious pedestrian accident occurred at the intersection in October 2012," he added.

The pedestrian struck was not killed, but was hospitalized, Chevy Chase ANC Commissioner Carolyn A. Cook said.

On Tuesday, Mayor Vincent Gray and members of the city's transportation department visited the new HAWK signal to demonstrate its proper use, as the commission had been receiving some "push back on traffic getting backed up" after the signal's installation, Cook added.

Learn more about the HAWK signal on the city transportation department's website.

Would you like a HAWK signal installed in your neighborhood in Chevy Chase or Bethesda? If so, where? Tell us in the comments.