Orange County Boosts Walkability on Americana Boulevard

Huge thank you to Orange County for installing pedestrian safety enhancements on Americana Boulevard. Road design is a huge part of pedestrian safety – the Engineering in our Triple E approach. Now, let’s work together to educate walkers and drivers about the importance of following crosswalk laws. Check out details on the project below.

Orange County Public Works has recently completed pedestrian safety improvements for Americana Boulevard between Texas Avenue and San Antonio Boulevard. The improvements include the installation of two mid-block crossings with pedestrian refuge islands and rectangular rapid flashing beacons, also known as RRFBs, which people walking can activate by pushing a button when they want to cross the street. Additional pedestrian signals were also installed at the intersection of Americana with San Antonio Boulevard to cross the west leg of the intersection.  LYNX has agreed to move the bus stops closer to the westernmost mid-block crosswalk and install new transit shelters, mostly likely in the spring.

These improvements were constructed to serve a large number of people walking who cross Americana Boulevard to access residential and retail uses, LYNX bus stops east of Texas Avenue, and to reduce pedestrian and bicycle crashes along the corridor.  Studies have shown that pedestrian refuge islands may reduce pedestrian crashes by 46%.  The need for the project was identified through the Texas-Americana Road Safety Small Area Study conducted by Orange County Traffic Engineering Division.  The construction project is part of Mayor Jacobs’ Walk-Ride-Thrive! pedestrian safety initiative and is funded through the mayor’s INVEST in Our Home for Life initiative.

For more information on Orange County’s pedestrian and bicycle safety initiatives, visit the Orange County website here.