Those trying to navigate Old Town Battle Ground on foot will have an easier time getting across Main Street as the Battle Ground Rotary Club launched a crossing flag pilot project in conjunction with the city.
The project was unveiled on Sept. 1 and now several bright yellow crossing flags sit in buckets on poles at each end of the east pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Main Street and Clark Avenue. If enough people use the flags to cross the street, the crossing will be the first of multiple in the city as an effort to make Battle Ground more walkable.
The idea to put up a crossing came from a visit to Stevenson by club members Becky and Dan Hanenkrat, who saw a similar installation, Becky Hanenkrat said in an email. The club holds regular meetings at Galeotti’s Wine Cellar nearby, and members regularly have to cross the street in the area, an experience she said can be harrowing during peak travel times.
“(S)ometimes it feels like you take your life in your hands” to cross the street, Becky Hanenkrat remarked.
After the Hanenkrats presented the project idea, the rest of the club agreed to pursue it. Dan Hanenkrat, a past BGRC president and current community service chair, worked on the project for about a year, his wife, the club’s public relations chair, said.
Dan Hanenkrat said it cost about $500 for the club to purchase the materials for the project, and the club received support from city staff on the design and location. The city itself has worked on walkability in Old Town, completing a signal crossing east of Central Park and west of Clark Avenue, providing a mid-block route for pedestrians.
The crossing could be the first of many the club brings to the city, and is the club’s latest effort to improve Old Town. City of Battle Ground Communications Manager Bonnie Gilberti noted the club participates in the city’s Adopt a Street program, cleaning up Main Street on a regular basis with city support for materials. Earlier this year the club renovated park benches on the street’s sidewalks as part of the program.
“We’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do next,” Becky Hanenkrat said, adding the club may plant flowers to further beautify the area.
