Pedestrian 'Beacon' Makes Route 27 Safer for Metropark Walkers

Traffic crossings for pedestrians have just gone high tech in .

The NJ Department of Transportation (NJDOT) unveiled the latest in road crossing devices Wednesday - a pedestrian hybrid beacon - on heavily-traveled Route 27 at Magnolia Road, right across from .

"It's a hot zone" for people trying to cross to the train station, NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson said at the demonstration of how the beacon works.

In the state, there were 162 fatalities last year among pedestrians. There haven't been any at that spot on Route 27, and Simpson said that the beacon will help keep it that way.

About 800 people cross the street daily at that spot to make it to Metropark. 

The beacon might seem to be like the old-fashioned buttons pedestrians push on some street corners that supposedly give a signal to the light that someone wants to cross the street.

That's where the resemblance ends. 

The minute someone hits the button, a countdown begins and an audio system tells the pedestrian to wait. 

"The light is dormant until a pedestrian activates it," said NJDOT spokesman Tim Greeley. 

Someone waiting to cross will have to wait from 14 to 93 seconds before they get the sign to start crossing the street, Greeley said. That's because the beacon is synced with the timing of two lights at Wood Avenue and the Parkway overpass.

"The goal is to improve pedestrian access where it didn't exist before. We didn't want to do it at the expense of creating gridlock," he said.

Drivers on Route 27 will see nothing but three lights, none of which lights up until a pedestrian signals they want to cross the street.  "Two of the signals flash yellow, then turn solid red to tell motorists to stop," Greeley said.

The beacon has signage to let drivers know to stop, and there are fines and penalties for motorists who don't heed the yellow and red light warnings.

The Route 27 site is the first use in the state of the innovative pedestrian beacon for NJDOT, Greeley said. The municipal government in Westfield in Union County has already put up a similar pedestrian beacon on one of their local roadways.

"It seems to be very successful," he said.

NJDOT passed out flyers at Metropark to let pedestrians know about the beacon, and that is where they should cross Route 27, rather than randomly running out into the roadway at any point, Greeley said.

Simpson was joined by NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein and Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac at the beacon unveiling.

After pressing the button, all three men crossed at the heavily marked crosswalk to demonstrate how the beacon works.

"People need to use common sense," Weinstein said about both pedestrians and drivers about crossing the road and yielding to prevent accidents that can cost lives.