The intersection of Williamson and Blount St in Madison, Wisconsin is an important and interesting intersection with a bunch of different road users. But what happens when a car hits a traffic signal pole? And how could dangerous conditions arising from this be prevented in the future?

0:00 Overview of dangerous conditions 0:31 About this intersection 1:52 Why the Blount St crossing is great 2:58 Thinking in terms of prevention, not blame 7:17 The situation for people biking 9:04 The situation for people walking 10:33 The situation for people driving 10:54 Conclusion

Sources and references

• City of Madison — Williamson and E Wilson St https://web.archive.org/web/20200320235533/http://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/projects/williamson-and-e-wilson-st
• The Atlantic — The Deadly Myth That Human Error Causes Most Car Crashes https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/deadly-myth-human-error-causes-most-car-crashes/620808/
• Georgetown Metropolitan — Reminder: Cars are Exponentially More Dangerous than Bikes https://georgetownmetropolitan.com/2018/04/26/reminder-cars-are-exponentially-more-dangerous-than-bikes/
• BicycleDutch — Utrecht evening peak hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JheHe8yj31I
• Beyond the Automobile — Signals for Change: Ideas from the Dutch for Improving Traffic Lights https://beyondtheautomobile.com/2020/08/11/signals-for-change/
• City of Madison — Transportation Demand Management https://www.cityofmadison.com/transportation/initiatives/transportation-demand-management
• City of Madison — Vision Zero https://cityofmadison.com/transportation/initiatives/vision-zero
• Strong Towns — 30 Days of Confessions: #6 Traffic Signals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLZiQdJM638
• SDDCTEA, US Army — The Clear Zone https://www.sddc.army.mil/sites/TEA/Functions/SpecialAssistant/TrafficEngineeringBranch/BMTE/calcRoadside/roadsideSafetyTutorials/Pages/clearZone.aspx
• Strong Towns — Accidentally on Purpose https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2022/4/14/accidentally-on-purpose
• NACTO — Urban Bikeway Design Guide https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/bicycle-signals/bicycle-signal-heads/
• Bike Portland — First Look at new lanes and paths on Naito Parkway https://bikeportland.org/2022/05/05/first-look-at-the-new-lanes-and-paths-on-naito-parkway-353232
• Petru S — 2021 Two stage bike crossing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRKTolrkz7U
• MUTCD — Interim Approval for Optional Use of a Bicycle Signal Face (IA-16) https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/interim_approval/ia16/