New Raised Crosswalk On Gull Road Tested After Major Multi-car Collision Thursday

It’s been about less than a month since the new crosswalk on Gull Road in Kalamazoo was finished, and already there has been a major accident that took place this week.

Thursday afternoon, multiple cars were involved in a rear-end accident that left one car completely damaged in the front and another car completely damaged in the back, which jammed up traffic for an hour.

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The crosswalk that was set up on Gull Rd is a concept that should be pretty simple to follow: a pedestrian walks up to the crosswalk where there are multiple yellow signs, indicating the crosswalk is there and signs urging drivers to yield to pedestrians.

Once a pedestrian is at the crosswalk, there are multiple flashing lights that indicate to drivers that there is somebody walking.

Apparently, all of that was not enough to keep what can most likely be assumed to be distracted drivers from paying attention to this new feature. Now, people are going at it in the comment section on a video that shows the disturbance after the crash.

In the video below, you can see the aftermath of the accident:

Whoever thought it was a good idea to put a raised crosswalk on Gull Road should be fired. First, people still don't use it. Secondly, people are doing 60mph down Gull Road! Why wouldn't you just put a stoplight there? Those blinking yellow lights are gonna get someone killed! I've seen so many accidents or near accidents at this dumb ass crosswalk since they put it there.

That area is known for a lot of jaywalking, and even somebody who has been hit on Gull Road while crossing the street shared their feelings:

That spot has ALWAYS been accident-prone, so the crosswalk is not the issue. If the pedestrian activates it properly and the drivers pay attention, then the crosswalk works just fine.