Carolina Curious: When will a busy Triad intersection get a crosswalk for pedestrians?

There’s a growing awareness in the Triad that making foot traffic convenient and safe is a good thing for the community. And yet some major intersections still lack adequate pedestrian crossing signage.

On this Carolina Curious, WFDD reporter David Ford wanted to know why the busy corner of University Parkway and Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem still doesn’t have a pedestrian crosswalk with countdown lights. 

When I first reported on this busy 7-lane intersection across from Goodwill Industries and near bus stops on each side of University, the pedestrians I spoke with there were concerned. They said they often had to run across multiple lanes as cars whizzed by at highway speeds.

That was 2009. Sixteen years later, city and state Department of Transportation officials have agreed to collaborate on a pedestrian crossing upgrade. Winston-Salem DOT Director Jeff Fansler says, given the size and complexity of the intersection, they initially hoped to redesign the roadways there, but he says the price tag was too steep.

"So we, the city of Winston-Salem, will be pursuing a project to install and redesign the traffic signal to navigate a pedestrian with the protection of a push button and the walking signal to cross all four legs of that intersection," says Fansler. "But that comes on the heels of a lot of study looking at maybe some more comprehensive designs that just didn't turn out fruitful for us."

Fansler says the funds, some $120,000, have been secured, and the project is working its way into the DOT’s queue. He currently expects the delivery schedule to be late 2026 or early 2027.