Cornelius, NC

Heads Up Cornelius is a safety initiative focused on reducing pedestrian and cyclist-related collisions. This campaign aims to educate residents on proper crosswalk, bike lane, and roadway safety, in conjunction with continued Town efforts to improve local signage and infrastructure.

Meet Heads Up Cornelius:

Close calls happen too often, and it doesn’t have to be that way. Our streets are there for all of us to get around; motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. When you change the way you think about your daily commute, you ensure that it isn’t you or someone you love on the other end of that close call.
Heads Up Cornelius: Your Streets. Your Town. Your Responsibility.

The best way to stay safe as a pedestrian is to follow a few basic guidelines:

Obey all signs and signals.
Walk on sidewalks whenever they’re available. No sidewalk? Stay on the lefthand side of the road so that oncoming traffic is visible.
Cross streets at crosswalks or intersections. Check for cars and make eye contact with drivers before and as you cross.
Be aware of vehicles entering and exiting driveways and parking spaces.

Motorists:

Keep an eye out for pedestrians at all times.
Be prepared to slow down or stop as you approach crosswalks.
Yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and stop well back so that other vehicles have a chance to see them, too.
Never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk. They may be stopping for someone that you can’t see.
Adhere to the speed limit. The average risk of death from a pedestrian collision reaches 25% at just 32 mph.

Walking is one of the healthiest modes of transportation, keeps streets quieter, and reduces your environmental impact. However, in 2020, 6,516 pedestrians were killed and about 55,000 injured nationwide in vehicular collisions. So, to keep streets in Cornelius a safe place to walk, it'll take all of us making a real effort to look out for one another.

Cyclists, we haven't forgotten about you:

Obey all signs and signals that motorists are expected to follow, including stop signs, traffic lights, and calls to yield to pedestrians.
Be prepared to slow down or stop as you approach crosswalks.
Use hand signals for left and right turns, as well as stopping.
Ride in bike lanes whenever they're available.
At a crosswalk? Dismount your bicycle and walk it across the road.

Many more guidelines exist, and you can review them in full by clicking here.

In early 2023, the Town installed several new pedestrian signals including the HAWK (High-intensity Activated crossWalK) on Westmoreland Road and multiple RRFBs (Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons) on Catawba Avenue. Get to know these signals and how to interact with them in our handy-dandy guides:

Click here to download or view as PDF.

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