FHWA Safety Program on Medians and Refuge Islands:
Adding medians and refuge islands can increase both pedestrian and motor vehicle safety, helping to solve multiple challenges faced by DOTs. They do this by allowing pedestrians to cross one direction of traffic at a time—often allowing them to focus on just two to three lanes rather than having to anticipate traffic for the entire width of the road. They also provide a space to install improved lighting at pedestrian crossing locations. Improved lighting has been shown to reduce nighttime pedestrian fatalities at crossings by 78 percent
Raised medians provide additional benefits above and beyond reducing pedestrian crashes, including the following:
Reducing motor vehicle crashes by 15 percent
Decreasing delays (>30%) for motorists
Increasing capacity (>30%) of roadways
Reducing vehicle speeds on the roadway
Providing space for landscaping within the right-of-way
[Note: The improved pedestrian safety is attributed to lighting and not the median. So we are basically spending money for pedestrian "improvements" that are proven to benefit motorists and they might or might not help with pedestrian safety. After all, if we design our roads like a easy level of "Froger" it should be better for pedestrians to play Froger with their lives, right?]
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FHWA Safety Program on Walkways and Shoulders
Walkways and shoulders create safer pedestrian environments. Pedestrians killed while "walking along the roadway" account for almost 8 percent of all pedestrians killed in traffic crashes. Many of these tragedies are preventable. Providing walkways separated from the travel lanes could help to prevent up to 88 percent of these "walking along roadway" crashes. Widening paved shoulders also provides numerous safety benefits for motorists as well as benefits for pedestrians including:
Reducing numerous crash types
– Head on crashes (15%-75% reported reduction)
– Sideswipe crashes (15%-41%)
– Fixed object crashes (29%-49%)
– Pedestrian "walking along roadway" crashes (71%)
Improving roadway drainage
Increasing effective turning radii at intersections
Reducing shoulder maintenance requirements
Providing emergency stopping space for broken down vehicles
Providing space for maintenance operations and snow storage
Providing an increased level of comfort for bicyclists
[Note: Again I’ll point out that this bike/ped improvements it is motorists that benefit the most, so why all the resistance?]
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https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/tools_solve/fhwasa11017/oldId.20110812142743966
Biking in Baltimore