A set of new traffic signals in Urbana designed to benefit the visually impaired will be operational within the next couple of weeks at Race and Main streets, according to an Urbana official.

The project will cost the City of Urbana approximately $250,000 for eight Accessible Pedestrian systems, said Bill Gray, director of Urbana Public Works. The Highway Safety Improvement Program funds 80 percent of the project, and the Motor Fuel Tax funds the other 20 percent. Gray said this is not the city’s first set of signals designed to aid the visually impaired.

The Accessible Pedestrian System is designed by Polara Engineering, Inc. to provide audible and vibrotactile information to pedestrians that have vision impairments, said Matthew Baker, national sales manager of Polara.

“The push button vibrates throughout the walk interval so that the visually impaired individual can know they are able to walk,” said Gale Jamison, project manager and assistant city engineer for Urbana. “There is an audible portion which basically gives information on which street crossing is available at that point in time.”

Beyond vibrating during the walk interval, the button will also vibrate when pushed so the visually impaired person will know that his or her push was registered, and the audible tone will come on to let him or her know when it is okay to walk.

“The most important message you get when you cross the street is when the walk signs are on,” Baker said. “For those that can’t see visual indications on the other sign across the street, they need a cue or assistance to know that it’s not safe to cross the street or that the walk indication is on at least.”

The Accessible Pedestrian System has cues built into them to help these pedestrians. From 6 to 12 feet of the pole, they should hear a tone, such as a beep every 1.5 seconds, that directs them to the unit on the pole, Baker said.

There, they will press and hold the button to hear the recordable message which will give the name of the street and the direction of travel.

“The message says something like, ‘Wait to cross Broadway and Grant to travel northeast,’” Baker said. “This helps them know the right location.”

He said there will be either a speech message or a rapid percussive tone that “sounds a little bit like a woodpecker or a very fast rat-a-tat-tat” on an easily recognizable frequency in agreement with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

When the pedestrians enter the crosswalk, they will hear the signal’s tone emanating from the street’s other side, guiding them to the opposite curb.

Jamison said in some cases, such as the system installed on Pennsylvania and Lincoln avenues, there is only the vibrating tone indictor, while the audible voice indicator is turned off.

“The voice indicators at nighttime could disturb residents if they are too close, but generally downtown will have them turned on,” he said.

Baker said cities in the Midwest are starting to implement the system to provide greater accessibility and information to all pedestrians.

Jamison said future installations will be made at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Main Street, as well as the intersection of Florida Avenue and Philo Road, which will be installed next spring.

“It’s our standard procedure to put them in,” Jamison said. “Every time we reinstall or upgrade our traffic signals, it is our policy to install them now.”

Gray said Urbana recently adopted a “complete street policy,” which is a citywide policy to accommodate all modes of transportation, including vehicles, transit, bicycles and pedestrians. The city wants to ensure that all types of pedestrians are accounted for, including those that may have some disability.

“We wanted our community, our city, to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, transits and vehicles,” Gray said.

Jacqui can be reached at [email protected].