Dickson Street Still A Little Scary

The new brick crosswalks on Fayetteville’s Dickson Street look great, but we’ve noticed a small problem. They’re harder to see. r

Motorists are used to bright white lines on the pavement to mark crosswalks, so they tend to zip right over the brick crosswalks without thinking a thing about it, even if a pedestrian is waiting to cross the street.r

Ron Petrie, an engineer with the city, said Fayetteville is looking at buying 2,400 feet of six-inch-wide reflective tape from 3M to clearly mark the 34 crosswalks across Dickson and intersecting streets. 3M said the tape will last for five years before it needs to be replaced.r

The city is also considering signs at each end of the street telling motorists to watch out for pedestrians. Apparently, the city fathers believe painting white crosswalks on the pavement and posting more signs along the commercial section of the street would detract from the beautification project.r