On July 17, 2017 the Pleasant Prairie Village Board adopted an amendment to Chapter 250 of the Municipal Code as it relates to Peace and Good Order.
The amendment added a statement outlining prohibited activity. It states; No person may stand, sit or stay upon any median in a designated roadway or highway due to the safety concerns for both pedestrians and the motoring public. A median is defined as a paved or unpaved area dividing a street or highway that separates lanes of traffic. This provision does not apply to persons using a crosswalk to cross a street or roadway or for law enforcement officers, fire rescue officers, or any public employee acting within the scope of their duties.
There has been growing concern about people soliciting donations and loitering in the median lanes of roadways and while engaged in this type of activity, entering the lanes of traffic to interact with vehicles. Pleasant Prairie Chief of Police David Smetana presented the Village Board with facts and figures related to accidents in the Village of Pleasant Prairie. This past year there were 349 traffic accidents, 99 were intersection related on Highway 50. With nearly thirty percent of these accidents occurring at or related to intersections, there is concern that groups and individuals soliciting donations in these intersections could be putting themselves at risk of injury. Groups or individuals loitering in the median may also obstruct traffic by creating a distraction for drivers.
The Police Department's role is to secure the safety of all residents and visitors within the community. Chief of Police David Smetana commented that “Police and Village representatives want to restrict loitering on median strips to help prevent accidents from occurring at intersections. The activity that has been taking place on the medians has been a distraction to drivers and is an accident waiting to happen.”
Archived copies of this and other Pleasant Prairie Police Department news releases are available by clicking here.
2017
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