ADRIAN — Raised crosswalks are one option for addressing safety complaints from drivers speeding through downtown Adrian, city staff members told the Adrian City Commission recently.

Police chief Vince Emrick and engineering services director Matt Tomaszewski spoke about the idea at the commission’s Sept. 8 meeting. They proposed raised crosswalks for the midblock crossings in the 100 block of North Main Street and the 100 block of East Maumee Street.

Tomaszewski noted that the signs in the crosswalks telling drivers to stop for drivers need to be replaced at least twice a year because drivers run into them.

“The signs that we put in the middle of the street continuously get hit,” he said.

The measure would be accompanied by lowering the speed limit to 15 mph, because raised crosswalks are designed with specific speed limits in mind.

Emrick said that if the city discontinues its use of Flock license plate cameras — another proposal he made at the Sept. 8 meeting — the savings could be put toward the $25,000 cost of the crosswalks. 

City commissioners were positive about the idea.

“If there’s anything we can do to lower the speeds down there, that would be great,” commissioner Mary Roberts said.

Commissioner Chip Moore agreed, saying that he owns residential property downtown and his tenants tell him about people speeding and revving their engines at all hours.

The crosswalks would be concrete and would be installed on top of the asphalt, so they would not require resurfacing. Tomaszewski also told commissioners they would not cause a problem for the city’s snowplows.

Emrick said enforcing speed limits downtown is tricky.

“I do it on bicycle when I can, but when you’re trying to get a patrol car in there and you’ve got people parked on either side, it can be very difficult,” he said. “If we make that reduction, then we will come up with a way. If we have to sit on a bench with the laser and point it down the street, we’ll do it, but it’s tough. It’s tough to get patrol cars in that cramped area, because then we’re contributing to the hazard.”

However, Emrick said, raised crosswalks should force people to slow down..

“My hope is that with those in place, people won’t have a choice but to go the speed limit,” he said.