WINNIPEG — Pieces of what appeared to be flannel shirts were covering the crosswalk buttons over one of Winnipeg’s busiest streets this morning, in a possible attempt to alert pedestrians the crosswalk signals were not working.
For the past few days city crews have been seen working on the crosswalk on Main Street, between Assiniboine Ave. and the Forks.
It’s used to guide hundreds of pedestrians over eight lanes of traffic every day.
At some point this week someone taped pieces of flannel over each of the signal buttons. There was no other signage to indicate the cross walk wasn’t working.
RAW: Rags are used to cover crosswalk signals that aren’t working
A Global News reporter saw several people still trying to activate the buttons through the shirts.
“It says push button to cross but they’re covered up with the shirts,” said one pedestrian. “It’s just confusing in general.”
When Global News asked the city for a response to this safety measure and whether it followed city protocol, a communications spokesperson said they were looking into it.
While waiting for a response crews arrived to replace the flannel with bright yellow covers stamped with, “Sorry out of service.”
When asked to respond to the swap a city spokesperson said in an email, “We sometimes use rags to cover push buttons temporarily while work is underway. We anticipate that this part of the project will be completed later today and the new crossing will be fully opened this evening.”
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